The Ties that Bind
by Aemeneol Aetherisch
Summary: Anarchy is good for you. When Cravat and his partner are transferred from their position in Little Tokyo to Daten City, his life on Earth will turn into a chaotic roller-coaster of sex, insanity, and Ghost hunting. But hey, it'll be one hell of a fun ride
1. Chapter 1  Of Neckwear and Holy Garments

** Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt**

** Chapter 1 – Of Neckwear and Holy Garments  
**

Little Tokyo wasn't one of the happiest places to be, in all honesty. It was so mundane that the daily routine could drive someone nuts. Of course, he couldn't contest to where he was placed, and he didn't for the past two months. During that time he only managed to get three Heavens, two of which came from one Ghost, which was actually fine by his standards. He wasn't in that much of a rush to collect Heavens anyway. Today's hunt may garner him at least two, but he wasn't sure.

It was almost Christmas, and it was freezing. It was even more so because of the Ghost's influence and abilities. A… something that died in a blizzard, now it was making the climate even colder by swinging its limbs frantically, fast enough that gusts of cold air would travel in a radius of about one kilometer. Thank god he was wearing his favorite coat that day, custom-made to look like something those vampire hunters in Castle-something or rather would wear. He did love his games and anime, enough that he'd made various cloaks and trench-coats based on them. He liked to, how do humans call it, _cosplay_? It didn't matter right now, all he knew was he liked his warm and fuzzy coat.

In all honesty his coat wasn't all that fuzzy actually. The neckties - sorry, _cravats_, as Habit constantly corrects him to call it, though he didn't want to call his weapons by his own name, were the sort of fuzzier pieces of clothing he had on. But they weren't just any sort of old-school necktie, they were magical. Not the magical-girl transformation shit you see on god knows how many magical-girl anime out there, more of the portable, divine, weapon – in – a – can, anti-restless spirit sort of magical. So maybe it would be better to call them divinal, or divine, or something. Sacred! There's the right term. He always had two on, no matter how hot it got to match his fighting style. Today was bitchingly cold though, even with two on.

"I guess I'm better off than them," he quietly said, as he glanced at his surroundings. Humans, animals, and landscape were all frozen, which honestly, didn't really make them look any different. The city was _that _boring. He couldn't tell the difference if someone froze the entire damn area, which frankly this Ghost was doing a pretty good job of. It looked at him cautiously, and he walked to a point around ten meters from it and stopped, addressing his target. He scratched the back of his head thinking of whatever he could say. It was always pointless to try and negotiate with these things though.

"You wouldn't be in the mood to go along with the easy route would you?" he asked in an inquisitive tone. The Ghost only started to flap harder, and narrowed its eyes at him. It blew two giant ice shards that had formed in the ground right towards him. "I guess that's a no then?"

Quickly dodging below the first one, and side-stepping the second, he grabbed his own ice-shard from the ground and threw it full force at the Ghost. The icicle embedded itself deep within a shoulder, and it roared in pain. The Ghost started to create stronger gusts, and he decided he really didn't have a say if the city deserves to be frozen or not. He breathed in deeply, and reached for the two pieces of clothing wrapped around the collar of his dress-shirt that were tucked inside his buttoned up coat. Yes, he had to wear a dress shirt. He would look even more retarded wearing his pseudo-neckties if he didn't.

"I'm done with the games."

In an instant, he was surrounded by a flash of light that would've mesmerized anyone who'd been present. His coat flew back wildly as a distinctive halo formed above his head, with six wings of light emanating from behind him.

**_-0-0-0-0-0-0-_**

**_Oh Lamenting Spirit,_**

**_Damned to wander the earth without respite,_**

**_Be freed by garb blessed by the Savior,_**

**_Receive your absolution,_**

**_Return to wherever you belong, Rest In Peace._**

**_-0-0-0-0-0-0-_**

The halo and wings disappeared as two balls of energy formed at his finger tips, and he flung his arm to his sides. A handle with a menacing tip materialized, two of them, one in each hand. Grabbing them both, he steadied himself and narrowed his eyes, analyzing his target. This Ghost was garden variety, by now he could tell that much, but a little caution never hurt anyone. He smirked, then jabbed both weapons into the ground, sending cracks along the frozen surface. A low rumbling came from below, and the tips, with stake-like protrusions in the middle and sickles on either side were now impaling the Ghost from below, a narrow whip-like stream of light trailing behind them. The two flew around the ghost quickly, and soon it was entangled, unable to move. It roared in defiance and snapped what looked like its jaws at him. For a good, long minute, it kept trying to escape. Once it realized it wasn't going anywhere, it stopped and looked straight at him. He could see despair in its eyes. It hadn't gotten the fullest out of life, and now it couldn't accept anyone and everyone moving on without it. He felt slight pity, but nothing more. The Ghost itself knew someone would stop it sooner or later, and it let out an exasperated sigh. He for one cracked his neck a bit.

"So," he said, raising the handles in front of him. He flicked his wrists, and the portion of the 'whip' that was underground sprung up, breaching the surface of dirt and snow it was buried under. He made an 'X' with his arms in front of him, and he gripped the handles tightly. "You got any last words you'd like to say?"

The Ghost thought about it for a moment or two, looking upwards and tilting its head to the side as if pondering on something. "Suck my ethereal dick," it said, smirking. He laughed slightly, humoring it. Really now, Ghosts had the oddest sense of humor.

"Honestly? I'd rather not," swinging his arms abruptly to his sides, almost parallel to his shoulders, the tension of the whip increased immensely, and it tore through the ghost in a split-second, cutting it to pieces, before it disintegrated into ash (or whatever the hell it was, he'd always wondered.)

"Trust me, it's way less boring up there," he paused for a bit. "… Or down there, whichever you end up in."

That familiar bell tolled in the distance. The two whips retracted back into the handle, making a distinct metallic snap as they locked in place. He looked around. Everything that was frozen began to thaw. They would be back to normal in an hour, give or take.

"At least _something_ happened before the New Year," He stretched his arms upward as he walked towards the remains. One Heaven. Brilliant. Not like it wasn't expected. He flipped the coin and tucked it away in his back pocket. His weapons reverted back to their original form, and he tied the two together in a scrunched up style and tucked it back inside his coat. After straightening up his collar, he began to walk back in the direction of the church.

It was still ungodly cold, even without the damn Ghost. The snow piled up until his shins, and trudging through the slosh became even more tiring than dealing with the Ghost. The lingering feeling of his entire lower body freezing off was becoming more and more apparent, but luckily his pants provided some sort of protection against the cold. He was shriveling up like a prune down 'there' though. Cursing, he started picked up his pace through the cold and snow-piled streets.

He'd finally reached a crowded street that was filled with unfrozen life. Amazing how some people are just too oblivious to know what was happening elsewhere. Of course, Habit already put up some crazy magic voodoo that made everything in that direction seem normal. Don't want mass panic now do we? He glanced at everyone he passed by. The streets were littered with varying sizes of people wearing jackets, coats, shawls, scarves, the whole package for the Christmas season. Even with all the different kinds of fashion sense present, he still got an odd glance here and there from people that passed by. It wasn't really out of the ordinary. He gets that a lot thanks to the clothes he wore. To other people he probably looked like some avid anime cosplayer or something, flowing coat and all. In truth, during his time on Earth he turned out to things like that, and showed no fear in expressing it. In fact, he subconsciously made whooshing sounds whenever the wind made his coat flow up epically, ignoring the stares of anyone who heard him. He had his own little world sometimes, and he liked it there.

Adjusting his hands in his pants pockets, he shuddered real quickly to get rid of the cold that was building up. Unable to resist, he cupped his hands and blew air into them, which warmed him somewhat. After another few blocks, he was standing in front of the church. A small one, it wasn't really anything of note, pure white made of marble, didn't have a second floor and not that spacious inside. He was alright with it though. Better than nothing, he always said. He entered the large, maple-wood doors.

The only other resident of their humble abode was Habit, with her radically modified religious garment on. Not being part of a real convent since it was just a sort of uniform, she was given leeway on modifying her outfit to match her needs. She needed to be agile with her throwing weapons after all. Made with blessed metal, she can cleave an apple while on the move from a hundred freaking yards. Habit was assigned to 'oversee' him as he collected his Heavens, though in all honesty he wasn't planning on neglecting collecting them anyway. She was, during that time against this Ghost that gave him two Heavens, the difference between him and the after _after _life. Out of the two of them though, she was probably the most childish.

Her weapons also can't _banish _Ghosts, just deter them for a good few minutes, long enough for him to finish the job with his Whipsickles. She nicknamed his weapons that, oddly. He wanted to call them Nemesis Whips, but the name reminded him of the weapons this demigod guy had on a console game he'd enjoyed playing, so to avoid a lawsuit if ever he were to show up on television, he stuck with Ghost Kira, still in homage of that game with the vampire hunters and that anime starring a guy with a god-complex.

Habit was bending over a stand, trying to reach a stray plastic jar of cookies that had fallen in the crevice near the wall. She loved the stuff. Chocolate Chip, Oat, Wheat, even those cookie sandwiches with filling in them. It's adorable seeing her in the supermarket filling the cart with about five different brands, asking him if she could get just one more. He always said she could, since she was the one paying for both of them anyway. He walked up to her, though she really wasn't noticing him at all. He crouched down, pondering on what he would do. A quick poke to the right buttock. She yelped in surprise.

"Yo," He said nonchalantly as he raised one hand in greeting. Habit sighed in relief as she saw it was only him.

"Waaah, it's only you Cravat," she said as she went back to reaching for the jar. "I thought it was a molester or something!" she said in a cheerful tone. Cravat smiled slightly. He envisioned her cutting off anything vital before the molester even got to first base. It's amazing where she could keep her weaponry. Never try to grope her anywhere, although she didn't really load up unless she went hunting with him. If you _do_ try a cop-a-feel at any other time, chances are you'll need a few stitches afterward. She's also crazy scary when she's serious. Of course, that would be about two percent of the time. Sixty percent of the time she's an air-head, twenty percent of the time she stares off into the distance, i.e. spaces out, and the last eighteen percent she would be obsessing over which cookie to eat next. Right now she was at her eighteen percent stage.

"I see you're eating the Mr. Plains today," he stood up, stretching his legs out. By the time she turned back to face him, she was nibbling on one already. She chewed quickly, and swallowed the half she bit off.

"I finished the Triple Stuffed yesterday. We're running low on them by the way," she said before devouring the last piece. Cravat looked at her figure. She was averagely built, slightly toned from all the physical labor she puts in training for a Ghost attack, although she only ever accompanied him once for that Ghost that gave him two Heavens. She had orange, slightly wavy shoulder length hair, and her bangs were kept away from her face with a little clip just above her left eye. Her chest area was pretty average, but certainly not a DFC. He always lol'd or lmao'd at her whenever she tried to seduce him into buying her stuff with the use of her chest, much to her annoyance.

He was amazed how much internet information and slang he'd picked up over the time he'd spent on earth. That site… what was it…? 40chan something or rather, a very… intriguing site, to say the least, was, as he dubbed it, an amalgamation of earth's knowledge and wisdom. As long as a stray goatsee picture or a Rick-Roll'd virus didn't pop up in his laptop everything's fine. Internet = best invention ever. Well, next to powdered water. Back to looking at Habit now. His thoughts tended to stray sometimes.

"What are you looking at Ravvy?" There's that nickname again. It was her little pet name for him, which he never really managed to shake off. She was tilting her head to the side while looking up at him. Another obvious physical trait she had was she was only about five-foot-one. Him being nearly five-foot-nine, he had to look down at her a lot, which made her looking up at him all the more adorable. He wasn't attracted to her though, it just felt like staring at a stray kitten whenever she looked up at him. Never be fooled by those looks Rav, he thought to himself, she decapitated the penis of the last guy she dated for trying to get into her pants in an impolite way. Of course, it was the taking her into a dark deserted alleyway and pinning her down kind of impolite, which he would never have the balls to do in all honesty. All she told Cravat was that she cut 'his junk' off before her assailant even 'got the blood flowing'. She called an ambulance out of what Cravat could only describe as an odd kind of remorse. The guy's privates were salvaged, though he was in so much trauma he didn't remember having a date with Habit or his little desperation act, and she in turn didn't mention it out of pity. Cravat shuddered. Truly, he had never met a much more fearsome person than this five-foot-one ray of cookie addiction.

Despite all of that though, she was a caring person behind all the homicidal mood-spikes. At least, he'd like to think of it that way. Only God knows what's really going on in that head of hers. Suddenly, he had this itchy feeling in his nose. He let out a loud sneeze to his right to avoid spraying Habit with a possible virus.

"You wouldn't happen to be catching a cold would you?" she brushed the bangs of his messy, light brown hair that went past his ears to the side and placed her hand on his forehead. He gently patted her hand away.

"Just tired. I promise," And yes, he felt a slight cold coming along, though he kept it to himself. Nothing a tablet of Paracetamol couldn't handle. He went to the kitchen to retrieve some when he noticed a ray of peculiar light on the ceiling. A few more seconds of waiting, and a thunderbolt struck their Heaven-issued mail box, which then spat out a relatively small piece of paper. Countless times this has happened before. Yet another mission from high up, he thought.

"But it's the evening already…" Cravat crouched down and picked up the note. The word 'TRANSFER' in big, red letters were scrawled ever so neatly on it.

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

As soon as they packed up and sent their luggage through a magical portal to their destination, they were on the road. Why they couldn't go through the portal with the luggage, he will never know. It zapped him something fierce when he tried to sneak in.

He could've used some light right about now. It being nighttime, the only light he had going for him was his headlights and the headlights of the cars he whizzed by. Soon enough they were on a well-lit highway. Good-bye Little Tokyo, he thought.

"Let me get this straight…" Cravat said as he tried to shift his position on his motorbike Lash-Out. He had to move a little since Habit clung to him from behind. "It would be in our best interest to collaborate with the Angels in Daten City since the rate both our groups get Heavens is, to put it bluntly, pitiful?"

"Well that's what the letter that came after it said," Habit replied. She held on tighter as Cravat seemed to be going at breakneck speeds. Another thing she didn't like was riding Lash-Out with Cravat. It was like sentencing yourself to a fiery death. Kind of like Robot Unicorn. "Little Tokyo barely gets any ghosts, and it's easy to go from one city to the other if it's only occasionally," Habit said slowly. Zipping past all the cars made them look like streaks of color. It made her nauseous. She decided to dig her head into his back and close her eyes. "Oh, and technically they've got a lot of Ghosts in Daten, but one of the Angels is too hopped up on sex to care much about gathering Heavens." She continued. Cravat lost control for a split second, threatening to crash them into a sedan. He swerved away from it, kicking off the wheel of a truck to gain balance again, and rocketed past the traffic in the spaces the lined up vehicles created.

"What the hell is up with that?" he asked, referring to the sexed up Angel. Habit made a shrugging gesture without looking up. She really was about to throw up. "Actually, in all honesty I'd rather not find out," Cravat shifted another gear up. She groaned in agony. "I've got an idea. Let's take a short cut. Thank god I've had practice on our consoles for this."

"Do you mean the racing ones? Are we going to like just weave through the cars?" she asked. A smirk appeared on Cravat's face.

"Nah, more like that Split Second thing, taking crazy ass shortcuts, except we're on a motorcycle." He replied. Habit felt like she would regret asking him what she was about to.

"Don't you crash in that game?"

"Not all the time, if you're good you can work your way around things."

"So did you crash a lot?" she asked. Cravat laughed.

"All the time."

"Oh god-" before Habit could contest any further, they flew off the highway onto the crowded city street below. He skillfully zipped past an oncoming truck and took a sharp left into a mall. He swerved around the people inside and used the escalator as a launch ramp to get him to the highest floor. Taking a sharp turn to the staircase leading to the rooftop, he bunny-hopped up the stairs and onto the mall-roof. There, he examined the surrounding area, looking for the church they were to arrive at. Habit clung to him like the Jaws of Life.

"Y-You know, you're the reason w-why I can't g-g-go on r-r-roller-c-c-coasters!" she shouted through his coat. He patted her on the head lightly.

"We're almost there. I can see it from here," he said, looking at the bell-tower of a church in the distance. "Hang on tight."

"Just think of your cookies just think of your cookies-!" Habit said to herself repeatedly. Cravat revved Lash-Out and jumped off the rooftop. They landed on the rooftop of another building, and, using what he could use as a ramp, they flew off it, now riding sideways on another building wall. He kicked off, and they landed onto a pathway through a residential area. Evading the stray soccer-balls and the occasional baby-cart and old person, he noticed trees in the distance. Getting another idea, he wheelied onto the trunk of one and rode until the top, and launched off above the other trees in their path. He saw the church in the distance, near the edge of a cliff, and tapped Habit to make her look.

"Hell no, not until we're on solid, safe, stable, happy, chocolate chip ground!" she replied with her eyes glued shut. They soared above the ground for a good few seconds, and when they landed they came to a screeching halt, perfectly parked in front of the large glass doors. Habit got off but her legs gave way. Cravat picked hoisted her onto his back and pulled what he guessed was a doorbell. Sure enough, he could hear a faint ringing sound inside. He looked to Habit who was now in a state of minor hysteria.

"You, you know, you crazy, real crazy, yeah, haha. I want my cookies now please, nice cookies, comfort cookies, yes, good times, good times~" she said with half-shut eyes and a smile on her face. He just laughed again. They were greeted by a tall, muscular black man with a large afro who curiously wore priest clothing.

"Er, Reverend Garterbelt?" he asked. He looked at them like a hawk, indifferent.

"You must be the two transferees." He said. He motioned them to go inside. He spied the look on Habit's face.

"You two wouldn't happen to be sex addicts too would you?" He loudly asked. Cravat cringed and turned to face the Reverend.

"N-No, she's just a little shook up from the ride here." Cravat said politely. Garterbelt thought for a moment.

"She wouldn't happen to have been riding y-"

"NO." Cravat said hastily. Garterbelt let out a loud chuckle.

"Alright alright, I'm just fooling around. Your things arrived here quite some time before you. They're in that tower across," he said, pointing to the tower connected to the church. "Just take the stairs over there and walk right across the bridge. Because of the lack of rooms, you'll have to bunk with one of the Angels."

Cravat was a little uneasy. "Aren't they both girls?" he asked. He'd never even shared a room with Habit before. He'd only been into a girl's room in games like Persona or a visual novel. Even then, it was awkward for him. This was a _real_, _living, breathing, _non-virtual girl. God he was such a video game addict sometimes. "And why me?"

"Common courtesy, dear boy. Ladies always get a room first, if you can count those two… _vulgarities_ as women." Garterbelt said with a passion. He must have not gotten along with the Angels much. "Well I'll be on my way now. Good luck with Stocking. She's the harmless one," he paused for effect. "… most of the time." Garterbelt turned around and started to walk off. "Now get to sleep, you all have to play meet and greet tomorrow morning," he paused for effect again. "… if you survive the night." With that, he started whistling what sounded like a funeral song. Oh I'm screwed, he thought to himself. He shifted Habit on his back and headed towards their rooms.

After setting down Habit on her bed, who'd already fallen asleep on their way there, he left her room to search for his own. He found his luggage bag first and changed into his sleeping attire, which was, basically, shorts and a plain old T-Shirt. The room wasn't all that hard to find, as the three rooms were right next to each other. He looked for the door with the name Stocking on it, and cautiously entered. To his surprise, it wasn't all that bad. It was dark so he couldn't really see anything, only the faint presence of a shelf with what looked like stuffed toys on it. He could really care less, he was about to fall asleep. He squinted in the darkness and spied a simple little mattress laid out for him with a pillow and a blanket, a little far from the bed where he guessed the Angel named Stocking slept. He could barely make out her long, dark hair with what seemed to be pinkish highlights on it. That's peculiar, he thought.

He went up to his mattress as quietly as he could and just dropped on it. It was soft and fluffy, and all he really cared about right now. The anxiety he felt a while ago sleeping in a girl's room had been dispelled for a while because of his drowsiness, though he had a feeling it would hit him full force when he wakes up in the morning. A final thought entered his mind before he finally fell asleep.

"It probably won't be that bad…"

**_-00-00-00-00-00-00-_**

**_Hoooooly Crap. Long first chapter. Got into Panty and Stocking a few weeks back, never got around to finishing this. Hope you guys aren't too brutal. I plan to finish my Gundam Fanfics as well, if ever the inspiration strikes me. Bye for now then ^_^_**


	2. Chapter 2 The Old Meet and Greet

**Chapter 2 – The Old Meet and Greet**

Cravat shifted as he sensed the sunlight through the window. Even with his eyes closed, he knew it was morning already. He knew it was morning already because all the moaning and groaning that came from the room opposite his came to a halt a few hours ago. He knew it was morning already because all the horrific mind scarring images he kept thinking of stopped. He was happy that he still knew what morning was. Thanks to his liking to games, anime and whatnot, he had one vivid and hyperactive imagination, a trait that he was usually thankful for but not when it caused him _great_ discomfort. He was now deeply contemplating how the hell would he face someone when he knew what their voice was when they… there's his imagination again. Might as well wake up already.

He never got back to sleep, and more importantly, he will never be able to wipe that mental image from his mind. He didn't have the sharpest hearing, but he could tell the owner of that room had at least three or more partners while they did the nasty. This was probably what that Reverend meant 'if he could survive the night', if he could go on without all of the noises of sex driving him batshit insane. If it was going to be like this from now on, he would have to toughen up his mental barrier. Reluctantly, he started to sit upright, stretching his arms as he did. To his right he spied the sleeping figure of the Angel named Stocking, covered in all the sheets of her bed. Because it was morning, he could finally see around her room and its contents. She seemed to be what other people call a 'goth'. Dark colors everywhere, and what he thought were cute stuffed toys last night, although having a sort of charm to them, still carried this sense of… ominousness. That wasn't even a real word. But that was the only way to describe it.

He got up quietly so he wouldn't disturb her. He noticed now that her hair was a dark bluish-violet color, almost black even, but having a slight tint to it. Her pink highlights were even more defined by the now rising sun, but her face was still under her blanket though. In a corner he spied her closet which was half opened. Glancing quickly at the sleeping girl, he scurried quickly and opened it. Yep, Gothic Lolita attire in a variety of colors. Not surprising, given her room. Deciding he would take a bath already, Cravat exited the room and went for his luggage. Habit was already there, probably looking to take a bath as well. Their suitcases were piled like a pyramid, and most of them actually belonged to Habit. They were all filled with her knives, blades, hatchets, and the like. He on the other hand only had three suitcases, given they were the quite large, one for his coats, another for his pants, boxers and home attire, and the last for his consoles and games. He always streamed his anime and read his manga online, so all he needed was space for his gaming equipment. Remembering what he came here for, he went up and patted Habit on the head.

"Did you have a good night's sleep?" He asked her, hauling two of his suitcases from the top of the pile. She might have been kept up by the noise too.

"Yeah actually, I slept like a rock after you dropped me on my bed," she said cheerfully. Good for you, Cravat thought. She was spared. He got his towel and toiletries and headed for the bathroom. Habit gave out a cry. "Can I take that bathroom? I really have to go…" she said, already jogging in place for emphasis. Cravat smiled and let her walk in first. "Yay!" she rushed in quickly and locked the door.

"Time to find another one I guess," he said, swinging his towel over his shoulder. Sure enough there was a bathroom downstairs. A nice warm shower cleared his head up a bit, and he dressed up quickly afterwards, putting on a white, long-sleeved dress-shirt which he rolled up until half of his forearm, and white, formal looking pants. His coat, which he buttoned up and tucked his two pseudo-neckties in, was sleeveless, black, and army-like with two long, flowing, rectangular 'tails' at the back that were up to his ankles. Finally he put on his socks and his black driving shoes with white stitches. As he went through the door he bumped into a young woman with blonde hair with nothing but her blanket on, scrambling forward to get inside. He stepped to his right to let her pass, and he realized she must've been the other one. The sex crazed Angel one. The one that kept him up all night, no innuendo intended.

"Ah, you're Panty right?" he asked, a little intimidated by the sight of her. She was tall for a girl, and was up to at least his eyes in height, considering he was wearing shoes right now. Her hair spiked and flared in a lot of directions, and fell past her waist. She had light blue, seductive, cat-like eyes that addressed him, her emotions unreadable. Actually, they weren't unreadable, it looked like she was bored. More of uninterested actually.

"You must be that transfer guy, yeah?" she asked, her tone indifferent. Cravat merely nodded. She noticed he looked like he hadn't slept that much. "Like what you heard last night?" she asked with a smirk.

"Erm, well, I wouldn't put it that way…" he said. She laughed somewhat, but it had a 'now I'm bored' ring to it. With a look that said 'okay you can go now' plastered on her face she slammed the door shut. Oh she seems like a ray of sunshine, Cravat sarcastically thought to himself. A ray of horny sunshine is more like it. He barely spotted a guy scurrying across the bridge while another that was visible through a window rappelled down the tower. A third one came scrambling down the corridor trying to buckle his belt and put his shirt on.

"… Okaaaay," he said to himself. Cravat deposited his towel in the dirty pile next to their luggage, which he would probably need to organize later on. Habit just got out of the shower, only dressed with a towel wrapped around her while another towel was wrapped around her hair. He never got how women did that. "Have a nice shower?" Cravat asked. Habit had a smile on her face.

"Yep, water was nice and warm," she gleefully replied. He watched as little droplets of water slowly went around the curves on the exposed parts of her body. He's seen her like this many times already, it really wasn't anything new.

"You should get dressed," he said passing her a suitcase. "Don't want to catch a cold now do you?"

"Alrighty then," Habit said over her shoulder as she rummaged through her suitcase. It was filled with nothing but her modified uniforms. She went into her room and locked the door to change. Cravat was about to head to the sweet smell of breakfast cooking downstairs when he heard another door open. This time he saw his roommate Stocking step out, still rubbing her eyes from the drowsiness. He got a good look at her face now, and she could be described as the cuter of the two sisters. Her green eyes were a little droopy and her default expression seemed to be a half-way pout. The only similarity she had with Panty was her height. These girls were tall. Stocking noticed Cravat looking at her and turned to face him. There was a moment of silence when they exchanged ever the indifferent glances.

"So," she was the first one to talk. "You must be Cravat," she finished. Like with Panty, he just nodded. She looked at him from head to toe, kind of like scanning him. Cravat imagined a horizontal red laser line going up and down his body and a screen would show up somewhere to showing the world what he was thinking right now. "A few ground rules you'll have to follow while sleeping in my room," she started, and Cravat stood at attention. Oh here we go, girl rules.

"One: Don't touch my bed. Two: Don't touch my stuff. Three: Don't touch anything that's mine, and Four: Don't mess with my sweets. If I find you violating any of these rules I will cut your nuts off," she stated. Never mind, he thought, both of the sisters were just as intimidating. Cut his nuts off with what though? He analyzed her name. Her stockings must've turned into something sharp.

"I'm guessing you use your stockings as a weapon which you can use to castrate other males, yes?" he asked. Stocking just gazed at him with a 'not amused' expression on. Yep, they were definitely sisters.

"Two points for Otaku Boy," she said nonchalantly. Otaku Boy? That was new.

"Where'd _that_ come from?" he asked. She pointed to one of his suitcases. One of them had popped open when it fell from the top of the pile. It was his gaming supplies, containing two next generation consoles, four controllers each, with a pile of about ten or so games for each laid sideways to make space for the add-ons and extras. Along with that were his DVD and Blu-Ray box sets of anime he really took a liking to and wanted to buy even after streaming them all online. Oh, he thought, Otaku. That term for an anime and gaming addict. At least he wasn't as bad as the ones living in their parents' basement with life-size pillows of female anime characters or worse, dutch wives. He just enjoyed them for their entertainment. Ah well. She probably expected him to have costumes and the like among his other bags, which he did. Oh, she's good.

"You may have a cute face but everything else about you just screams 'no-lifer'," she finally answered. Did he hear that right?

"Did you just call me cute?"

"That was a test, and you seem to match my expectations," she started again. "Flustered by simple female praise. You're obviously not around the opposite gender that much. They're all probably too scared or too disgusted of you. That other girl here must be some sort of desperate floozy to have been shacking it up with you."

Wow, she's brutal. The old axiom was right. It's the quiet ones you have to watch out for. Her sister Panty showed outright her distaste at things. However at first glance you don't get that with Stocking. You think she's harmless. He could feel now, that she had a dark side to her. But you mess with Habit and you're going to get what's coming to you.

"While I may have only been around one girl for the entirety of my stay here, it's because it's my choice who I want to be around," He started to say firmly, his voice slowly rising. "Now I'm going to be staying in that room of yours for a while, and I get it. You don't seem to like me. I'll follow your rules, whatever it may be, out of the concept that I _think_ you're a good person despite being a judgmental asshole. But you don't know me or her enough to go running your mouth. Say that about her again and maybe I'll stick something up your snatch to shut you the hell up," he was almost shouting. That last bit came out of spite. He had an extremely forgiving disposition. But bark up the wrong subject and I'll _bite _back, bitch, he thought to himself. Stocking was, to say the least, quite stunned.

"Wow," she said slowly. She could tell he was ticked. "Alright then. I'm sorry, I'm kind of cranky in the morning. I couldn't sleep because of my damn sister. I just felt like I had to vent or something. Well, that and I haven't had my morning dose of sweets yet," she finished, letting out a big yawn for effect. Now it was Cravat's turn to be shocked. Oh great, now he felt bad. Women. God knows he'll never get them. With a sympathetic expression on his face he started to scratch the back of his head.

"I uh, didn't really mean that about your snatch," he said, trying to laugh a little to lighten the mood. Stocking giggled a little. Fuck, he thought, she's adorable, of course different from Habit's kind of adorable. But just like Habit she can be brutal if she wanted to. "If it's any consolation I'm still recovering from the mind scarring myself."

"You'll get used to it, but sometimes they're just _too _loud," Stocking said, rolling her eyes. With a little wave she entered the bathroom door. Cravat sighed. He waited for Habit outside her room.

"Habit, want to go get breakfast? I'll open up that new batch of cookies you've been wanting-" a door suddenly swung violently open and slammed into his face.

"Ffffff-!" he never finished the word. He was too busy garbling other nonsensical sounding swear words, that and holding a handkerchief to his nose to absorb the small amount of blood flowing out.

"Breakfast cookies~ Ah, Ravvy! What are you doing there?" Habit asked as she stared at him crouching and hunched over. Cravat quickly wiped the blood away from under his nose and stood up straight. This used to be a daily occurrence whenever he called her to breakfast. After talking with Stocking he forgot her tendency to open a door with reckless abandon, or smash and mow down anything in her path to travel in a straight line towards her round little snacks. You know, straight line, fastest way to anything? That or pull a Schrödinger's Cat, which neither of them could do. Straight line through anything it is then.

"Oh nothing. So, breakfast?" he asked through a pained expression. Habit merely replied with a cheerful shout. Cravat retrieved the said cookies from Habit's special 'Mah Stash' labeled suitcase and went with her down the stairs. As they got down they noticed a peculiar looking animal sleeping at the bottom of the stairs, which they carefully stepped over. Garterbelt was already setting the table.

"Erm, Mr. Garter?" Habit called out. The big man turned his head to face her while still setting utensils down. "What's this?" she asked, pointing to the green… thing. They could hear it snoring loudly, or something like it. It just repeated Chack, with the 'a' elongated, which was kind of _like_ snoring.

"Is it… is it a Pokemon or something?" Cravat asked. He heard the sound of metal hitting the floor.

"Oh that? That would be Chuck," he called out from under the table, retrieving a fork that was dropped. "He's the zipper dog. Well, he's more of a mailbox for Heaven than anything else," at hearing his name, Chuck immediately awoke and began prancing around saying its name over and over again. It sat down calmly next to its food bowl, which Garterbelt filled with… something. It looked like some sort of liver pate mutated by radiation. Chuck devoured it thankfully though. The good Reverend then proceeded to get a megaphone. With a click, it was on.

"YOU WHORES GET DOWN HERE NOW THE FOOD IS READY!" Garterbelt shouted, his features taking on a crazed expression, then reverting back to being calm and collected. He sat down at one of the center ends of a nice, rectangular wooden table. Cravat and Habit sat down on the two chairs to Garterbelt's left, and after a few minutes of silence, save for Chuck's gorging, the two sisters walked down the stairs. Panty was wearing a red dress that was ever a few inches above her knee, and Stocking wore a black Lolita-esque with a big blue bow near the collar. Her hair also had a matching bow on it, and she carried around a little stuffed cat. The two of them sat down opposite of Cravat and Habit, with Stocking in front of Cravat and Panty in front of Habit.

"*ahem* I think you've all met each other already," Garterbelt started. Habit slowly raised her hand a little.

"Um, I haven't met the two of them yet…"

"Ah, if that's the case," Garterbelt turned to Panty and Stocking. "Go on, introduce yourselves. This will be the start of a wonderful partnership between the four of you."

Panty spoke first. "Name's Panty. If you think I turn my panties into a gun, then you'd be right. Two points for you," She said almost absent-mindedly while reaching for some spicy chicken wings. Another thing she liked, other than sex, was spicy food. Stocking on the other hand hated the stuff.

"I'm Stocking. Like I've told Otakun over there, I turn my stockings into swords. Can I have some of that chocolate cornet now?" she asked pointing to an entire plate of it. Cravat noticed she added an 'n' at the end of Otaku now. How interesting.

"Thank you for the meal," Cravat said, reaching over for a plate of hot bread. He managed to get some butter, which he spread on one loaf. He got another loaf and spread peanut-butter on it, and sandwiched the two sides into one. He took a big chomp out of it, relishing the taste.

"I second that," Habit said, reaching for a stack of pancakes. She got two and generously slobbered it with Maple syrup, and crushing a few pieces of cookies on top of it and adding whipped cream. She looked like she was in Heaven already. After they'd all eaten their fill, they left the dishes on the table. Panty and Stocking started to walk towards the door.

"Where are you guys going?" Cravat asked. Panty turned around to answer.

"Daten High. We go there every day to scout for ghosts and get information. That and to bully geek boy." She said with a sadistic smile. Whoever this geek boy was Cravat already had sympathy for him. Daten High… he thought he saw a High-School while scouting at the top of the mall roof. He guessed that's where they were going.

"You'll be going with them you know," Garterbelt said over his shoulder while gathering up the plates. Cravat looked at Habit. She simply smiled.

"Think of it as our first day on the job," she said, lightly jabbing Cravat on the shoulder and hurrying after the other two Angels. Cravat scratched his head and followed all three of them. They got to the underground Garage, and he spied what he guessed was the Angels' ride, pink, roofless, Hummer H1. Cravat spied Lash-Out right next to it. As he climbed on his bike, Habit looked like she'd seen a ghost. Cravat wondered for a bit what she was doing, then realized. He laughed at the thought.

"You can go ride with them. It doesn't take a genius to know you hate being my passenger."

"OH DEAR LORD THANK YOU RAVVY!" Habit ecstatically shouted, and got in the backseat of the Hummer. Stocking was already at the wheel and Panty was riding shotgun. She looked to Cravat and had a little game in mind.

"Hey, Otakun," she called out. Cravat turned his head. "I bet your dingy little bicycle can't beat See-Through in a race," she finished, starting See-Through up. Habit snapped her attention to Stocking. Oh this can't be good.

"Really now…?" Cravat answered back, revving Lash-Out up. The exit door to the surface slowly opened and sunlight broke through. "A little race then?" he asked, revving Lash-Out even louder. The sounds echoed through the almost empty garage space. Panty looked at Cravat with interest.

"Well well, looks like we have a challenger," she said, putting on a pair of black sunglasses. Stocking did the same with her own dark blue ones. They looked at each other.

"Stocking," Panty called out with a glint in her eye her sister could see behind the sunglasses.

"Panty," Stocking replied. Sibling telepathy, perhaps?

"Let's show this Otaku the 'ride' of his life," Panty said, licking her lips.

"Oh yes, let's," Stocking said eagerly, her hand on the throttle. "Do you even know the way there Otakun?" she asked. Cravat gave them a sly little smirk of his own.

"Oh I'll think of something," he said, about to flip up the stand on Lash-Out. Habit already latched herself in with a seatbelt. She held on to her plush cookie for comfort.

"I like you already, Otaku Boy," Panty shouted out over all the revving. "Alright," she started the countdown. "Three."

"Two," Stocking continued, her hand already gripping the E-Brake.

"One!" Cravat shouted, flipping the stand of Lash-Out up. The tires screeched as they revved in place, the friction of rubber to concrete making white smoke form. Stocking slammed the E-Brake down and switched to first gear, the tires of See-Through also creating a curtain of white smokescreen.

"Here we go again," Habit finished, holding her cookie pillow in a vice-grip. Cravat let out a cry of anticipation.

"LET'S GET IT ON YOU TWO!"

_**-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-**_

_**Author's notes: Nothing much happening here, just some plot. I originally planned to make the Christmas Chapter land on, well, Christmas, but seeing as it's only Chapter two I guess it'll have to occur off-date. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. It's 1AM here, so off to bed I go XD.**_


	3. Chapter 3  The First Day

**Chapter 3 – ****First Days Are Always Eventful**

The streets were filled with the same city buses and the same cars that went on with the same daily routine. In and out, stop and go, here to there. It wasn't exciting, but it was peaceful. Here in Daten City, a city exactly mid-way between Heaven and Hell, everything was betwixt and between, a life of being in the middle, all under the invisible rule that seemingly kept everyone from being exemplary. They were average. But some rules were meant to be broken, these so called rules that humankind has put on themselves. A wonderful example of those who dared defy the norm were about to come blazing through the crowded city streets. Literally blazing.

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

The sky was cloudy today, which could be cause by the fact that it was already Christmas season. Even though it was snowing like hell back in Little Tokyo, only now does the snow threaten to pour down on Daten. However, since it wasn't snowing yet, it was neither too cold nor too hot today. Perfect for an early morning drive. Or race. It was more of a nice day for a race, since it was what the angel sisters challenged Cravat to.

As both of them burst out of the underground garage area, they found themselves already swerving and cutting each other off as they headed towards the main road. As they managed to reach it, Panty noticed a truck hauling gasoline in the distance, left unattended by its driver due to a flat tire. The driver was on the phone, probably calling a pickup truck, when Panty got one hell of an idea.

"What are you doing?" Habit asked as Panty took a bottle of vodka from under her seat. She'd left it there the night before after she and Stocking went out to a bar.

"Oh nothing, just something to make things more fun," she said with a hint of mischief in her voice. "An initiation for Otaku Boy over there, if you will," Using a handkerchief, she made a Molotov cocktail out of the half full bottle of vodka. Setting it on fire with a lighter from the glove compartment, she threw it fiercely at the truck, and it exploded just behind it. The driver already saw the Molotov incoming, and ran as far away as he could. The blast was enough to ignite the gasoline inside the tank, sending it rolling and jumping towards them. Cravat saw what Panty had just done.

"What was that for?" he shouted as the rolling inferno made its way towards them. The people who saw the truck coming quickly got out of their cars and made a run to the side of the road, away from the fiery rolling-pin of doom.

"Double points if you clear that!" Stocking shouted while concentrating on the obstacle ahead.

"There's a point system?" he asked loudly as the tanker came ever closer.

"Yeah! Sure! Whatever, just don't die I guess!" Stocking replied. Well that was a given now wasn't it, Cravat thought to himself. Stocking looked back at Panty who had this smile plastered on her face. "You think he'll make it?" she asked her sister. Habit butted in.

"Oh it'll take more than that to kill Ravvy," she said, holding her seatbelt tightly. "He can survive anything as long as he's on Lash-Out," she continued.

"And if he's not on his bike?" Panty asked, suddenly a little interested. Habit looked like she was pondering, touching her chin with her pointer finger.

"That's a different story. Here it comes!" Habit shouted as the tanker came rolling a few meters off. Using the slanted trunk of a hatch-back, Stocking launched See-Through through the air and easily cleared the burning tanker. Cravat stared at Stocking's skills in awe as he readied himself. The hatch-back just got crushed, so that's a no-no. Only way is under it, he decided. Just a few meters in front of him, it bounced again on the road, lifting itself just about a meter off the ground. This was his chance. He shifted his entire weight to the left side while pulled on the handles so his entire right side would be facing the tanker. The momentum and the shift in weight sent him into a side-ways, almost flat on the ground slide, his arms almost skidding on the pavement, under the burning wreck. He barely cleared it when his coat caught fire, and he shifted his weight again so Lash-Out would be back to optimal riding position. As he sped down the road, the fire began to die out, and he was right behind the sisters and their pink Hummer. Panty whistled as she saw what happened through the rear-view mirror.

"Wow, not bad." She said, reclining back to her seat. Habit let out a sigh of relief. Panty noticed. "I thought you said he could survive anything on his bike?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I still don't worry. That bike's expensive to maintain you know," she said. So she was referring to being relieved over Lash-Out not becoming a total wreck. Interesting, Panty thought.

"Kid's got skill _and _speed, might just be my kind of guy," Panty said aloud, licking her lips.

"Really now Panty? Already?" Stocking asked, fearing for Cravat's safety. God knows what Panty does just to get what she wants.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding, haha… maybe…"

"What was that last part?"

"Oh nothing, nothing." she wasn't being serious of course. It was just fun creating doubt like that.

Lash-Out was a machine to be reckoned with. It caught up to See-Through in no time after clearing the tanker. Cravat was in his own little world right now, seeing only the road, the sisters, his speedometer, and the imaginary racing position he was seeing at the top right corner of his field of vision. Right now, it read 1st. He smirked even more as he saw traffic building up near a tunnel in the distance. Stocking noticed the traffic too.

"Well that's not fair," she said as they approached the myriad of cars that were smooshed into a few columns. Cravat on the other hand felt the opportunity arise and took it. He left the two sisters and their Hummer behind.

Cravat sped through the long crevice made by two rows of vehicles. He had to be a little careful though, as he could clip one of them and be sent spinning. He couldn't hear the sound of See-Through's engine through all the vehicles around him, but they couldn't have gotten through this traffic could they? The tunnel echoed with the horns and beeps of impatient drivers all around, and Lash-Out's engine resonated in the symphony of mechanical booms. Then he noticed something. He felt a pair of eyes on him, not from behind though. Where was it coming from…?

"Aw hell no," he said out loud. Cravat looked up, and sure enough See-Through was riding on the roof of the tunnel. Stocking was concentrating on driving, while Habit was hanging on for her dear life.

"Hey there Otaku Boy ~ " Panty called out provocatively from above him. She looked relaxed, reclined in her chair with legs crossed. Cravat could definitely make out that smirk on her elegant face. Disregarding everything else, he had to admit she was pretty damn gorgeous. Makes it easier to lure her 'victims', he thought to himself. That may be all there is to her though, he thought again, and laughed a little. See-Through sped up, leaving Cravat and Lash-Out behind. Smirking, he knew what to do next, just to amp up the fun: join them in their little joy ride up top. Problem is, how would he get up there? He spotted a truck that was hauling wooden planks, probably for construction work or something. Deus Ex Machina, you sly little plot device you.

"Here we go then-!" revving Lash-Out up, he hopped on the back of the truck and banged his foot on the wooden plank hard as he launched, sending him into a 180 degree spin. Lash-Out's tires came in contact with the roof, and now he was speeding his way through the tunnel upside down, just behind See-Through. Using the slipstream from See-Through, he launched himself so he would end up right beside the pink Hummer. He tapped Stocking on the shoulder. Upon seeing him she cussed loudly and swerved a bit, but quickly gained back her composure. Habit looked at him directly in the eyes, with a fire that she would kill him personally if he did something like that again. He laughed at the thought. Stocking turned her head to look at Cravat.

"You're not half bad," Stocking called out. Cravat started to get a lead on the girls as he quickly inched forward, leaving Stocking with an idea in mind. She then swerved towards him, clipping Lash-Out's rear with See-Through's bumper. Lash-Out wobbled wildly and swerved, but, while laughing physics in the face, Cravat took back control and 'slid under' a hanging 5 meter clearance sign as the tunnel ended. It was hard to classify what he just did, as he was on the ceiling. Just before he flew out of the tunnel, he kicked off, just like he did to get up on the roof in the first place, making another 180 degree spin that sent him right side up again. By the time he landed the two sisters were already a good ways ahead of him. With a look of determination on his face, he revved Lash-Out hard, the wheels screeching loudly as he suddenly gained a burst of speed. They were on a highway now, with less traffic and more racing space. He leaned his entire body forward so the wind resistance would be kept at a minimum, and just focused his eyes like a hawk's on the pink Hummer in the distance. His coat flared wildly in the wind as he steadily gained on them, and he felt really, to put it bluntly, awesome right now. Just as he seemed to pass them, they took a sharp right that lead off the highway. Needless to say, he missed the ramp that would lead him to Daten High. He cussed under his breath as he sped through the highway like an arrow. Just then, he realized something. When the hell did he ever need a road? The way things were right now he could easily fly off the highway and head for the school, which he noticed just to his right peaking out through the tall trees.

He laughed a bit, realizing why Habit hated his driving. He'd learned all he needed to learn at arcades and video games, well, nothing about safety, and they always had a disclaimer never to do them in real life.

"You only relive once… I think," he mused to himself. Without so much as a second thought, he wheelied onto the side of the highway and launched high into the air. He landed in grass, which was instantly burnt, distorted, and flown everywhere by Lash-Out's rapidly spinning wheels. He kept his leaning forward position to avoid the low branches. He ripped through bush after bush and by the decreasing amount of flora around he could tell he was near the school. He could see it in the distance, and was sure he'd won until he saw a familiar pink Hummer crash through a wall right into the school itself.

"Curses, so close," he whispered to himself as he stared off in the direction of the broken rubble and smoke. As he continued to stare off, he failed to notice the root of a giant tree was about to collide with the front tire. By the time he looked back, only three words registered in his head in the few milliseconds before the inevitable.

"Oh fuck me," as tire and root collided, he was launched off his vehicle and straight into the campus. As he flew through the air, he thought to himself that maybe Lash-Out was the one that had the devil's luck, not him. So what happens if he's flying through the air while not _riding_ his bike? If a bit of that luck rubbed off on him, he would fly into some unfortunate schmuck to soften the landing. If his luck was nil, he would end up as sidewalk splatter. Thankfully, it was the former. "Heads up!" Cravat shouted before he collided with the walking figure. He realized it was a girl. As he travelled through the air, he noticed her long, light blue hair that was tied in a ponytail that went well past her waist. He noticed her look at him during the few seconds he had left before colliding with her, and she had interestingly bright green eyes behind the glasses she wore. She also had a very reddish complexion. Too much blush or something…? Come to think of it, her entire body looked really red. A foreigner maybe?

As ponder-able that statement was, he realized she had already stepped ever so calmly out of Cravat's flight path. He landed right shoulder first on, thankfully, a grassy part of the campus. The velocity he was travelling still made a sharp sting travel from his right shoulder until his forearm though, and the skidding ripped the right shoulder area of his coat until his dress-shirt underneath. A rock or something probably lodged itself in his arm as well, as he could feel something warm slowly seeping through the layers of fabric. But he was alive, and never was he more thankful for his durability as a fallen angel.

It still hurt like a bitch though.

"FREAKING HELL-!" he shouted loudly, rolling to his left side and clutching his right shoulder. He felt another heartfelt exclamation of pain coming on.

"SWEET SHEEZEUS CHRISTI-!" he shouted with the same vigor. Lash-Out tumbled to his side, but ended up safe and sound, standing like it was magnetized to the ground. Oh cool, he thought, those last two phrases rhymed.

The girl he'd barely missed walked up to him and crouched down, her movements all seemingly topped with grace and refinement. Instead of asking him if he was alright however, she looked a little irritated at him.

"A severe disobedience of the rules, in this case trying to run over such a high-ranking official of this school, may deserve twenty to life in detention," she said through narrowed eyes. Oh yes, thank you, ignore my ever so obvious injury, he thought to himself, and what the hell kind of crazy rule is that? He noticed how she said rules though, with the emphasis on the Rs and elongating the U. Made it sound like Rrrruuurrrs. Cravat started to stand up slowly, still clutching his right arm and grimacing slightly.

He thought of the best excuse he could muster. She looked like the serious, by-the-book type. He readied his kiss-up statement. "I didn't mean to launch myself at you like that, it's just that I was kind of in a hurry. It's my first day, and it would be unfortunate if I were late…" he said in an earnest voice, scratching the back of his head with his left hand. Ah dear lord, please take the bait, he thought to himself. He winced as he tried to move his right arm. She still looked a little unconvinced, but she saw how much damage had been done.

She felt some sympathy for him. As co-head of Daten, she could not allow a new student to be left feeling unwelcomed and, in this case, injured. Another rule she ever so benevolently followed. "Follow me to the nurse's office," she said, starting to walk away already. His face lit up slightly in surprise. He started to drag Lash-Out by the left handle with his working arm, and the girl took the right. They lead it to the parking area for bikes and motorcycles near the entrance of the main building. As they walked down the halls filled with students and lockers, they eventually found the clinic. As they walked inside, the girl asked Cravat to sit down on a bed. She retrieved a first-aid kit in the form of little white box with a cross on it from one of the shelves.

"Take your coat off. I need to see your arm." She requested. Doing as he was told, Cravat proceeded to take off his coat and undid the buttons on the dress shirt beneath it. His undershirt was sleeveless, so he wouldn't have to take everything off, thankfully. He took his arm out of the right sleeve, and saw the extent of his injuries. A sharp stone had lodged itself slightly in his shoulder, which the girl took out with some forceps.

"GAH-!" Cravat exclaimed as it was quickly pulled from his arm.

"It wasn't in that deep, it should heal after a few days," she took some antiseptic and placed it on a piece of cotton right and started to treat the wound. Every so often, Cravat would exclaim 'ow' in a monotone voice. She pressed harder on it.

"OW!" he shouted. "What the hell?"

"Sorry, slipped," she said without looking up.

"Oh really?" he asked irritably.

"Yeah, really." She replied with no sign of her being annoyed with his tone. She began wrapping a bandage around his arm where the bruises were. Cravat found himself staring at her, since he had nothing better to do. She looked like she grew up in a refined household, teaching her things like this. She didn't seem anything like Panty or Stocking, she acted with discipline and grace. She had this aura though… He couldn't quite wrap his finger around it. He'd felt this already somewhere, but decided to dismiss the thought. She sprayed some ice-in-a-can on the bruises that weren't wrapped yet, and he welcomed the slight relief the feeling gave. She had laser-like focus while she did what she did, her features however still looked charming. He felt himself heat up a bit. Damn you, hormones.

"You aren't running a fever are you?" she asked. Huh, she's really perceptive.

"No, I'm good," Could this encounter be a flag? Like the ones in those dating sims? That idea was laughable. Must be his imagination was acting up again. Co-head of Daten High huh? Come to think of it, I haven't asked about her name yet, Cravat thought to himself. "Er, may I ask what your name is, uh, ma'am?" he said awkwardly. "I'm Cravat."

"Kneesocks," she replied after she finished. She stood up and placed the equipment back where she found them. "You should get to class now, you might end up being late."

"Alright," he began to put his sleeves back on and button his shirt. He straightened up his collar and adjusted his pseudo-neckties as he tucked them back in under his coat. He'd need to patch that hole up when he gets back to the church later. Kneesocks had already walked out of the clinic before Cravat was able to thank her.

"Huh," he said dismissively. He'd probably see her around though, he went through the door. He realized that he was pretty near where Panty, Stocking, and Habit punched a hole through a wall. The trio was already walking down the hall, probably going to their first class. Another person was with them, a boy with orange hair that covered his eyes. He had headphones on and wore a green jumpsuit while carrying a strange looking backpack. Cravat decided to join up with the four of them, tapping Habit lightly on the shoulder. As she turned around, she was delighted to see him.

"Ravvy!" she exclaimed. After giving him a quick hug, she turned to the guy with them. "This is Brief, or as Panty and Stocking call him, Geek Boy," Habit finished. Ah, so this was the Geek Boy Panty was talking about, Cravat thought. He already felt pity for him.

"You guys sure have a knack at nicknames don'tcha?" Cravat said to the sisters. They just shrugged. "Nice to meet you Brief," Cravat said.

"Likewise, I heard you were almost killed by Panty," he said, a little sympathetically. Cravat let out a light laugh.

"Close, but no cigar," Cravat replied jokingly. He noticed Panty and Stocking were walking towards an emergency stair-case, which he was sure didn't lead to their first subject.

"Uh, guys, what about class?" Cravat asked. The sisters looked at each other with a small smile on their faces.

"We're going to be patrolling the area for ghosts. You honestly don't have to take the school part too seriously. We're registered here, but it isn't mandatory… sort of," Panty said as she disappeared through the door leading to the staircase. Stocking followed, not looking back. Cravat and Habit were left with Brief, who looked a little reluctant to be cutting classes right now.

"I can show you to our first class if you want," Brief offered, a little shy. Cravat and Habit looked at each other and shrugged. What the hell, might as well give it a try. The two of them followed Brief to a classroom as the bell rang. Their homeroom teacher was a relatively old man, and they were assigned seats that were a little ways off from each other. As they introduced themselves, their teacher assigned Brief to show Habit around the campus since they'd already met with each other, and waited for someone to volunteer to show Cravat around. He could hear whispers all around the classroom.

"What the hell is he wearing? A trench-coat?"

"Guess we have another geek."

"What was up with that Habit girl? She's seriously going to wear _that_ every day?"

He heard more and more comments along those lines being thrown around the classroom, and he sighed. That's lovely, he thought to himself, a bunch of spoiled brats on their high-horses thinking they're better than other people. Let it blow over Cravat, let it blow over, he thought to himself. They're not worth your time. A hand shot up from the back row. Someone just volunteered to show him around campus.

"I'll do it," a girl's voice said aloud. Cravat shifted his attention to where the voice came from. It was Kneesocks, apparently.

"Ah, very good Ms. Kneesocks. Show him around after class, we're shortened today. A blizzard's headed our way," their teacher called out over the rising noise in the classroom, and then he made the class settle down. After the first two periods, classes were inevitably canceled when the snow started to fall. Even though it was just two periods, Cravat felt like he hadn't stretched his arms in ages. Telling Habit he'd meet her outside after Brief showed her around the campus, Cravat went to Kneesocks's table.

"Thanks for showing me around," he said. He didn't really need to be shown around, as he had a feeling he wouldn't be in class that often anyway, just scouting around with Panty and Stocking. But a sign of gratitude never hurt anyone.

"Of course. I thought it would be appropriate, seeing as I helped you out already," Kneesocks replied. As she led Cravat outside the classroom, he let a small smile out.

They rounded the entire school, which by now he noticed was in the shape of a cross by the positioning of the buildings. She showed him to the library, the computer rooms, the club rooms, and interestingly, they even had an indoor swimming pool. They made small talk along the way, which varied from how this room came to be or how that room used to be something else, to a little bit about themselves.

"You have a sister?" Cravat asked as they entered the cafeteria. His favorite place anywhere was probably always the room with the food.

"Ah yes," she replied as they both walked up to the counter. They were a little hungry from going around campus all morning. "Scanty. She's on a school-issued business trip somewhere, and she won't be back until after the holidays." She started, then she began this long monologue of how beautiful and kind and breathtaking her sister was with such emotion that Cravat had to wonder if she thought of her sister as… something else. Shaking those thoughts from his head, Kneesocks could read from his reaction what had crossed his imagination. A smirk glided along her features.

"Why yes, my sister and I are in _that_ sort of relationship," she said seductively, licking her lips. The statement made Cravat choke on his macaroni salad, and Kneesocks burst out laughing. It seemed all the women Cravat had met so far had a quirk or two about them. Maybe he should've gotten used to it by now.

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

Snow began falling even more now as the walkways that lead outside had little piles of white beginning to form on them. He walked through the slosh, which felt interestingly nostalgic of his days back at Little Tokyo. He saw an SUV, a G-Wagen by the looks of it, though it was elongated to look like a limo, parked by the front gate of the school. He guessed this was Kneesocks's ride home, as she was asking him to accompany her to it.

"Are you sure you'll be able to ride with that arm?" she asked as she got in the limo. Cravat just nodded, as he could at least move his arm enough to grip the handlebars. "Alright then," she said.

"Thanks again," he called out before Kneesocks managed to close the door. She smiled and waved at him.

"You're welcome," she replied. He watched a little as the limo-SUV slowly drove away, and went to retrieve his own vehicle. Cravat noticed Panty, Stocking, and Habit were already waiting for him near the parking lot.

"Come on slowpoke!" Stocking called out as she revved See-Through. Lash-Out also rumbled to life. It was only lunch, but he knew he'd find a way to pass time once he got back to the church.

Nothing really fancy happened on their way back, except for Stocking cutting-off this big rig, which toppled over from trying to avoid See-Through and ended in a pile-up of cars. Nothing that important, actually. He got off Lash-Out as they parked in the underground garage again.

He played his consoles for the rest of the day, and after eating dinner with the others, lied down on his bed a ways away from Stocking's.

"G'night Stocking."

"You too…" she said sleepily from under her sheets. She even yawned. Cravat laughed a little. He realized how tired he was, after evading a fiery doom, almost crashing into someone, experiencing a short mundane life as a student, which he probably wouldn't be faithful to that much anyway. He was just thankful it was over. But then it suddenly occurred to him.

This was just day one.

_**Author's Notes:**_

_**Sorry I just managed to update now, we had a lot going on during Christmas and New Year's, and school starts tomorrow for me, so I'll try updating once a week. But I'm not giving up on this, I'm having too much fun working on it XD**_

_**Well then, Happy New Year guys **_**^_^**

**_SMALL NOTE: If you want to see what Lash-Out looks like, search for Suzuki Biplane on Images in Google, it's the very first one you see/ the various yellow ones you see. I found this while surfing online and liked the design, though Lash-Out is more of a dark blue. I tried posting the exact site I found it in, but didn't want it to show for some reason, haha._**


	4. Chapter 4 The Big Leagues

**Chapter 4 ****– The Big Leagues**

A vicious cycle. Not exactly, more of a traumatic cycle. Having to listen to all that screaming and moaning almost every other night. It's been two weeks, and Cravat was starting to consider buying headphones and an MP3 player to block out the noise. Maybe he should have from the beginning. Why didn't he think of that earlier? Buying a pair of noise-cancelling headphones, or earphones, whichever the hell worked, sounded nice. That would be a fine gift to receive for the holidays, and hey, it was only two days before Christmas. If only.

He slowly got up and scratched the back of his head. Cravat noticed Stocking peeking out from under her covers, staring at him, and gave her a timid wave.

"Couldn't sleep?" she murmured within earshot. She was still pretty sleepy.

"Ah, the sandlady. How she has eluded me recently." Cravat replied, adding a little sarcastic laugh at the end. Stocking let out a little yawn before saying anything again.

"You should get used to it soon, or you'll go nuts," Stocking said, slurring her words a little, her eyes only half open. Cravat smiled a little. She had this little adorable aura around her in the morning, like she couldn't even hurt a fly. Ah, but the truth was far from it. She would kill a fly and its family if it ever came within a meter of her sweets. Stocking could cut the damn wings off, and just watch sadistically as they struggled to scurry away, only to be met by overkill with the tip of her swords. But hey, who doesn't hate flies? Come to think of it, _anything_ that came between her and her sweets would meet a violent end. Cravat let out a small laugh, imagining the massacre that could ensue.

"I'll try to get used to it, just don't expect any radical results too soon," Cravat answered back as he got up using nothing but his legs, seeing as his arms were jell-o-like since he managed to cut off their blood supply by using them as his pillow. He always managed to push his pillows off and lie face-flat on his bed. Cravat started to move them with whatever feeling was slowly coming back, flailing them at a leisurely pace until he felt the blood rush back like little tiny needles prickling his arm. Clenching his hand to make sure he could move everything again, he picked up his towel which he placed beside his bed every night by now. One thing Habit always forced on him was taking a bath before being able to play his consoles, something about irritated eyes and bathing equaling to blindness. Cravat was sure she was overreacting, but he followed her anyway, and before long it became a daily thing. He decided a week ago to continue the little morning tradition.

"I'll be going to the bathroom now," he told Stocking as he slung his towel over his shoulder. As roommates, he seemed to have gained Stocking's acquaintanceship after many nights of playing 'Guess How Many' with Panty's frequent sexcapades. He ruffled Stocking's dark hair, which she responded to with a slightly annoyed groan, and went on his way. After taking a bath, he wore the uniform that he was required to wear to school now, a uniform that Kneesocks assigned him. It looked similar to all the other ones people at school were wearing now, but his had two 'tails' that formed half-way around his waist that reached his knees. It looked like one of his coats now, which was awesome.

"You can wear whatever pants you want, just wear this to look like an actual student. It's a _rrruuuru_," he recited to the mirror, imitating Kneesocks' voice. He found her way of saying rules kind of endearing.

After finishing up in the bathroom, he went to fetch Habit. He stood in front of her door and called out.

"Habit, you there?"

No Response. Huh, was she sick or something? Cravat tried knocking again.

"I can smell the cookies Garter is cooking right now, they smell real good," he yelled loudly then quickly sidestepped to avoid what he thought would happen next. Sure enough, she burst through the door, but had a packet of chocolate-chip cookies in her right hand. Cravat gave her the one-raised-eyebrow look.

"So you were sneaking a little morning snack?" Cravat asked as he crossed his arms. Habit scratched the back of her head while smiling awkwardly.

"Ehehe, well, you know me. More cookies now yes?"

Cravat sighed and walked with Habit downstairs to the dining room. They met Chuck along the way and gave him a little pat on the head and a quick belly rub, which he responded to by salivating uncontrollably. He also tried to make love to Cravat's leg after they started to leave. Shaking Chuck off gently, the little zipper-dog soon lost interest and went to the kitchen to await his breakfast. Habit and Cravat followed, with Habit expecting the cookies to be ready by now. Sure enough, Garterbelt was taking a fresh batch of Snickerdoodles out of the oven. More food was already on the table, and they both sat down to eat while Garterbelt poured a slab of unknowable substance into Chuck's bowl.

"Thank you for the meal~" Habit said in a sing-song voice as she got three Snickerdoodles from the tray. Her hand jerked quickly to her plate and dropped the cookies a little clumsily on it. "Ow ow ow, hot…"

"You should really let those cool first," Garterbelt suggested as he took his own seat at the head of the table.

"No no no, fresh is best, I always say," she chirped happily while nibbling on a little piece off one cookie. Garterbelt smiled, which he only did whenever Habit was there. He probably wanted Panty and Stocking to act more like her. But Cravat knew that she was more similar to Panty and Stocking than anyone's he's ever met before. That little adorable exterior hid something within that would shock even the most courageous. Her abilities in combat well exceeded Cravat's. The first ghost he managed to banish because he got lucky. The second one would've killed him if Habit wasn't there, and the only reason he managed to take out that last Ghost in Little Tokyo was because Habit started sparring with him to make him more useful. He cringed whenever he remembered her 'Protein Shake', a yellowish-white goop of extremely thick consistency. He really doubted if they had helped him get any better. But hey, whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Well, supposedly anyway. He was nowhere near Habit's level though. He was probably far from Panty and Stocking's level too.

Ah great, he thought to himself. I'm probably the weakest one here. There goes my ego.

The two sisters soon joined them at the table and began to eat their fill, Panty was wearing a brown trench-coat, seeing as it was still cold these days, and Stocking wore a dress that looked like her normal outfit, except it had a fluffy hood attached. As they were about to finish, a loud bolt of lightning struck Chuck as he devoured the last bit of his food. Laying there charred like sweet savory barbecue but smelling like anything but, he spat out a roll of paper.

"Finally, some action," Panty said as she cracked her fingers. Garterbelt went over to Chuck and picked the little piece of paper up. In big red letters, the word 'Gift' was scrawled on. Garterbelt pondered for a while on the meaning of the enigmatic message.

"Hmmm," Garter wondered out loud. "There _have_ been reports of a Gift-Wrap factory being haunted. A man died when he suffocated after wrapping himself. News report said he was found dead in the factory inside a box that was to be delivered to his girlfriend. The fetishes some people have, honestly." Garterbelt said, remembering a news broadcast a few days ago. He then looked at Stocking, who he knew for a fact had some crazy bondage fetish. Not that he didn't have a similar fetish himself, but they didn't have to know that. "A few days ago three personnel almost suffocated to death when they were wrapped head to toe in ribbons and sealed inside a giant gift-box. The factory had to close down when just a day after two more employees were found. This time they were dead," Chuck coughed up another piece of paper, which looked like a map. Garterbelt picked it up and handed it to Stocking, who held it by her finger-tips at arm's length. Chuck slobber, now even more gag inducing!

"I actually received a call from the company's president this morning. This finalizes things. Now go on. If this continues, think of the chaos that will spread through the city, the mere fact that people will no longer be able to wrap their presents and be able to give them to their loved ones with the element of surprise will result in catastrophe if you don't set things straight! NOW GO! GO YOU BITCHES and Cravat and Habit GO NOW!" Garterbelt yelled with his voice rising with each word, saying it with enough manly passion that behind him a volcano looked like it had erupted from the sheer intensity. A few seconds later his facial expression returned to normal and he went to clean up.

"Such manly intensity, Sir Garter. I applaud thee," Cravat called out as he got up, stretching his arms.

"Tis my job," the big man humbly replied. Garterbelt gathered a few dishes and started to wash them. Habit was left a little amazed by the Reverend's outburst.

"Wow, does that always happen?" she asked as they all walked away from the table.

"Yeah, that's afro-priest for ya. Most of the time he uses that tone when he scolds us though," Stocking whispered, stealing a few more sugar-coated donuts from a plate before she went to follow the others. Cravat grabbed his winter coat from a rack, seeing as he was only wearing the thin school-uniform Kneesocks gave him. Even Habit had a variation of her outfit that included a furry hood and long sleeves. It would be another chilly day outside. The sisters along with Habit and Cravat started to head to the underground garage.

"So I guess that means we're playing hooky today?" Cravat asked. It was his first time to actually skip school since he got here, Kneesocks being strict with attendance and all. But if he were to tell her he was sick, he'd probably be able to weed his way out of her long monologue about the _rrrruuurus_.

"Yeah, I guess so," Habit replied as she started to get on See-Through. They all started their respective vehicles up, their engines rumbling in the vast underground passage. See-Through exited first, bursting out of the exit while Lash-Out followed closely behind.

**-0-0-0-0-0-**

Nothing that day was really of note. It was still snowing slightly as they sped through the highway to their destination. Cravat reflected on how the fight would go down. Would it be an easy kill? Would he need to rely on Habit to banish it? Given the Anarchy Sisters were there, maybe he wouldn't have to do all the work. But he knew for a fact the sisters still liked to push him around. What if they made him fly solo and watch from afar how it went down? Would he be able to fend for himself? Did he leave his console on before he left? Should he have eaten that last slice of pizza on the table even though he would be the one to look like a douche? He was still pretty hungry. All of these thoughts raced through his mind as the factory slowly showed itself in the distance.

It was near the outskirts of the city, and didn't really have any other buildings surrounding it, but a mall was relatively nearby. Makes sense, as this factory probably supplied it with wrapping paraphernalia for occasions like birthdays and all that crap. It was in a big empty lot, with wired fences and a toll-gate before you could actually get into the lot. It was almost deserted however, as no one was to go near it until that Ghost was dealt with. As they approached, they saw a relatively tall, lanky man, his hair slicked back with gel, wearing earmuffs and a thick wool coat. That must've been the president. They parked just before the toll, and the president walked up to greet them.

"Thank you for coming," he sputtered, his voice having a little panicky tick to it. "I wanted to let Walter pass on peacefully, but I guess he just didn't want to let go yet."

"Yeah yeah, we'll take it from here," Panty interrupted. She started walking off in the direction of the factory, which was a brick-red, three storey building powdered with white here and there in the light snowfall. Panty's cat-walk like stride gave the president a little doubt on whether they would be able to complete the mission or not, but Cravat gave him a pat on the shoulder. Stocking and Habit followed, leaving Cravat to promise the president they would get the job done.

"You should know if you called in yourself that they're good at what they do," Cravat reassured. Their gaze turned back to Panty, who was busy trying to bash the door in because it was locked, but to no avail. Cravat could feel that giant, oversized sweat-drop appear above his head right about now.

"Ah yes, the key," the president shifted as he put his hands into his pockets. In a moment, he handed the key to Cravat, whom he told to hurry before Panty damages the building any more. Before Panty's heel collided once more with the entrance doors, Cravat grabbed her leg.

"I have the key, so you can stop mutilating the poor door now."

Cravat unlocked the door and turned the knob. As he opened the door he saw that the inside looked pretty much how he expected it to look. Dark, bleak, and lacking life. In short, it was one hell of a place to make a B-Rank horror flick. Power to it must've been cut off when it closed down. Ah sheezus, Cravat thought to himself, I hate the dark. Being alone in the dark. Dark dark dark. Why couldn't it have been someone who choked on air in an open field?

"Erm, ladies first," Cravat said as he made a 'go on in' gesture with his arms. Panty just shrugged and entered, but Stocking and Habit were a little suspicious. Habit took a peek inside and realized what Cravat's odd behavior was about.

"Awww, Ravvy, You don't like the dark right?" Habit said out loud, snickering a little. He forgot Habit knew about his phobia. Cravat tried to act calm and collected and thought about the most plausible reason for his actions.

"Ooof course nooot, I was just thinking of, uh, guarding the rear. Yeah, that's it, ahaha… heh…"

"Alrighty then Mr. Bigshot. You better guard our rears good m'kay?" Habit replied to his ever so obviously awkward statement before entering herself. Stocking was left to make sense of it all. Her face didn't register any emotion, or maybe it did, the blank face of 'no shit, seriously?' Needless to say, she really tried to process the information, based on his past actions.

"How is it that you can stare a burning tanker of doom in the face and laugh, not go mentally insane after hearing Panty's O – scream every other night, eat the mystery meat on Hazmat Fridays in the cafeteria _and_ ask for seconds, but you can't handle the dark?" she asked, her tone having something along the lines of empathy and mockery at the same time.

"Okay, one, I feel very awesome when I'm on Lash-Out the confidence boost just comes naturally, two, I have _slightly_ gotten used to. The scars are currently scabbing over. Three, you should really try it. It bites back a little, but it's got this unique flavor-"

"I'd rather kick the bucket happily of diabetes." Stocking interrupted. Cravat laughed as he lost his train of thought while looking at Stocking, but quickly found it again.

"… fair enough, finally I don't mind the dark per se, just the dark where I know something can kill me at any moment. That as well as I can't see and I don't know where the hell other people are," he explained, crossing his arms and avoiding making eye contact. "Maybe if there was a way I could keep track of you while I wade through the dark…"

"What, do you want me to hold your hand or something?" Stocking suddenly offered. A moment of silence passed and she offered her hand to show she meant it. Cravat was a little unsure of the consequences. "We will not talk about it after this, there will be no questions asked. Come on then," she continued to coax. Cravat let out a disgruntled murmur and grasped her hand.

"Really now, you're such a dork, Otakun."

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

The very cloudy sky really didn't help in getting any light in the building. It was eerily dark. The minimum illumination only showed the outlines of some machines here and there, conveyor belts, stray wrapping paper that was left when the place was evacuated, and various doors and stairs that winded through all three floors stuck to one side, all in one giant, spacious, rectangular room. As Cravat and Stocking climbed a flight of stairs, they ended up on a catwalk-like path, only about two meters wide. He could barely make out the railing that kept people from falling to the machinery below. They passed by rooms that were offices just a few days ago, now deserted and devoid of anything friendly.

"Where'd Panty and Habit get to…?" Cravat whispered, no longer holding onto Stocking's hand. There were a few windows on the second floor which lit the place up a bit, and he calmed down. Stocking turned to face him, her face also a little puzzled.

"Wow they're fast. Might be on the top floor," she suggested as they walked on. The metal catwalk they were traversing made their footsteps echo in the empty building, making his hair stand on end. A sudden sound from above made Cravat practically rip his pseudo-neckties off.

"FREAKING…!" he muttered through gritted teeth as both of his Ghost Kiras materialized in his hands, sending off a bright blue glow before dissipating. Cravat had a crazed look on his face, more like paranoia actually, as he breathed heavily and scanned his surroundings. Seeing nothing wrong, he dematerialized his weapons and tied them back around his neck. While this was happening Stocking just stood there and stared at him, not knowing what to say. Cravat just shrugged and laughed awkwardly, motioning them to go on. Stocking complied and followed him up the next flight of stairs. They reached the final floor, and they could barely make out a door at the end of the catwalk. As they approached it, something brushed against Stocking's leg, and she squealed in surprise then fell forward as she lost her footing. Cravat acted quickly, grabbing a hold of her shoulders before she fell too far.

"What's wrong?" Cravat asked as he looked around. There was nothing there.

"S-something, like a piece of string… my leg… eck…!" she stammered, regaining her footing. When she calmed down, they both decided to go on and enter the door. The site sent chills down their spines. Two neatly wrapped boxes in the distance were illuminated by a single light bulb, swinging back and forth on a suspended lamp-post. The creaking it made didn't help ease their nerves.

"Did the Ghost do this…?" Cravat wondered out loud, starting to go closer to the packages. One of the packages suddenly hopped and jerked to the right, making a loud thud as it landed. "What the hell…?"

Stocking suddenly screamed. Cravat whirled around, trying to see what had happened. The faint light was enough to let him see what went on. It looked like various arms were wrapping around Stocking's body, eventually suspending her in mid-air. The Goth-Girl shrieked, helpless as the 'arms' wrapped itself around her. A black, humanoid form with blood-red streaks outlining its shape manifested itself just below the suspended light bulb. It looked like a mummy wrapped in bandages, with one, menacing yellow eye showing and a small slit that looked like its mouth. This must've been the Ghost. The wrappings around him must've been the ribbons he used. The ones that suspended Stocking retracted back to the Ghost, and now she was side-by-side with it, struggling to wriggle free. The slit formed into what could be made out as a smirk.

Cravat then realized. The last two victims were found dead in a box all wrapped up. Habit and Panty were still missing. There were two boxes in front of him right now.

"Shit… _You didn't_…!" Cravat growled, realizing what had been done. That would explain why they were nowhere to be found. Habit and Panty were caught off-guard, silently, in the pitch-black, then wrapped and shoved in a box. Helpless. Dammit, Cravat thought to himself. Not good.

"Another one…?" the Ghost suddenly spoke out. It seemed rather amused. It chuckled melancholically then grabbed the other two boxes with its ribbons. The boxes jerked and shifted as they were suspended in mid-air. "Isn't it wonderful…?" the Ghost started. "Offering yourself as a… metaphorical gift to someone…"

"What are you talking about?" Cravat asked firmly as he once again materialized his weapons.

"She refused me the first time… and the second… but maybe it was because it was too early in our relationship…" It had a lazy way of saying his words, almost slurring them. "So maybe… if I showed her how serious I was… Maybe she'd accept me..." there was a pause in its sentence, thinking of what to say next. It started again.

"… Do… Do you know if she would have accepted me…? It's too late to know now… All I know now is… I must share my pain… with everyone… abosolutely… _everyone_..." after it let go of the last word, more ribbons from behind it suddenly appeared, this time stiffening and sharpening into blades. Before it could make a move though, Cravat already deployed his whips, swinging it in a wide arc forward. The trails of light wrapped around the ribbons that held Habit and Panty's boxes in place, and with a fierce motion he pulled the whips back. The tension it caused sliced the ribbons in half, and the boxes fell to the ground. With a ticked-off roar, the Ghost lunged forward with its sharpened ribbons at the ready. Cravat also lunged forward, but at the last second slid below the spikes and between the Ghost's legs. As he slid under, he swung his whips to grab onto the sharpened ribbons, and tugged hard, severing those as well. It roared in pain and escaped through the door, bringing Stocking with it. With no time to spare, he tore open one of the large boxes and found someone wrapped tightly. Cravat found the knot and undid it, revealing Panty underneath, gasping for air as her head escaped confinement.

"ABOUT FUCKING TIME!" she barked angrily as she tore the rest of the restraints off herself. "Where's Stocking?"

"Ghost got her, go on ahead, I'll catch up when I free Habit," Cravat stammered as he ripped open the other box.

"Don't take too long!" Panty yelled as she basically smashed down the door. Undoing the knot, Habit's head jerked up as she gasped for air. Cravat cut off the rest of her restraints with Ghost Kira's bladed edge, and she threw the ribbons aside, aggravated.

"That bastard's gonna get it from me…!" Habit grumbled as she reached for her knives with her left hand on a belt wrapped around her upper leg. With her right she reached around her back and withdrew a throwing hatchet and ran after Panty. Cravat stood there pretty stunned. Hell hath no fury over a woman wrapped and shoved in a box. He shook off any other thoughts and ran after the girls. The Ghost had already reached the first floor with Stocking in tow as the ribbons around her just got tighter and tighter. The sun was barely breaking through the clouds, now lighting the building enough so he could see clearly. Stocking looked like she was breathing heavily.

"At this rate she's gonna suffocate…!" Cravat muttered, before having an idea. Deploying the whips again, he swung the whip on his right to latch onto the railing of the second floor just bellow. Without over thinking it, he jumped off the third floor and readied a kick. His pendulum-like momentum ended when his foot collided with the Ghost's face, knocking it down. It still had a hold on Stocking, and Cravat aimed for the tendrils that were trapping her. Before he could even attempt to do what he planned to, a wall of ribbons that felt like they were made of metal slammed into his right side, sending him flying into a conveyor belt. He hit it chest first, knocking the wind right out of his lungs. He should've been paying attention more, now the wall that smacked him threatened to finish the job. Another swing was directed at him, and he could barely move his body. Instead of crashing into him however, the wall of steel-like ribbons was suddenly pinned to the machine beside the conveyor belt by a large hatchet. A figure jumped towards the hatchet and used it to suspend itself while making a fierce, upward cutting motion with the blades in its hand. The wall of ribbons was severed, and the pieces that were still attached retracted back to the Ghost. Habit just saved his life again.

"Don't rush into things, you'll only get killed," she suggested in a very concerned tone. She retrieved the hatchet that was lodged into the machinery, and the cut off pieces of ribbon flopped to the floor, limp. "Think you can free Stocking from here?"

"Yeah… Yeah I can," Cravat replied, taking deep breaths. He was really short on it right now. Habit engaged the Ghost again, throwing the knives in her left hand, impaling the Ghost on various parts of its body. The reaction was to be expected. It roared in pain and knelt, weakened by the holy metal. This was Cravat's chance. He swung both whips at the ribbons that held Stocking. The trails wrapped itself around the ribbons, the hook grabbing hold of the seemingly soft part of it. With a violent heave, the ribbons were severed and Stocking staggered forward as she tried to land safely on the ground. Her knees buckled, and she let out a small cry.

"Th… That was… the best I've had in a while…!" she said, talking to no one in particular. Best what in a while now? Cravat didn't want to know. Panty stood next to her sister as she heeled the Ghost in the face, sending it flying in the other direction.

"It's time to take this guy out Stocking," Panty told her sister, who looked like she was in a different world right now. "Now stop climaxing and help me already."

"Oh alright… S-such a waste though, hahaha…" Stocking sighed as she readied herself. She stood right next to Panty, and suddenly a stage with flashing tiles and two poles on it came out of nowhere. Music also started to play in the background.

"What the hell…?" Cravat wondered in both curiosity and the feeling something was about to happen that would make him feel _very_ uncomfortable.

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

_**Oh wicked spirit, born of a lost soul in Limbo,**_

_**Receive Judgment from the garb of the Holy Virgin,**_

_**Cleansed of worldly impurities,**_

_**Return to Heaven and Earth,**_

_**Repent!**_

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

"Pole dancing? Really now, _pole dancing_? What the hell is that about? And did they just say Holy Virgin? HA. HAHAHAHA. HA," Cravat wondered out loud. Of course they could've been referring to someone else with the Holy Virgin thing, but hey. When they said it, he just couldn't take it seriously. On a side note, he just mentally scarred himself. Now he's seen both of them pole dance. Joyous day.

All that aside however, once they both materialized their weapons, Panty with her gun Backlace and Stocking with her Stripe 1, the power and skill they showed him was amazing. They both evaded all incoming attacks, stabby-go-lucky ribbon extensions, spiraling, bladed, ribbons of death, a giant ribbon wall that was supposed to crush them. All rendered useless by their grace and technique. A few precise shots from Panty and the Ghost was barely standing. Stocking finished it off with a series of slashes that he couldn't even begin to fathom how many there were before the Ghost was obliterated into dust while screaming SUCH A WONDERFUL GIFT!

As the dust settled, Panty and Stocking stood there, their faces still looking as pure as ever, highlighted by the streams of light that were now invading the inside of the building as the clouds outside parted slightly, letting the sun shine through. There was barely a scratch on their clothes, disregarding a cut here and there. The ghost garnered three Heavens, and Stocking picked it up, flipping one of them then putting the rest into her pocket.

"Eh, not bad today I guess," Stocking said, already turning to the exit. Panty followed, yawning as they exited the building.

"I'm hungry. Let's get lunch."

Habit followed the two of them and motioned for Cravat to come along already. As he exited through the door, he looked at the thankful face the president had as Panty told him the news of their success, while suggesting that they should at least get some money for food out of it. As they all kept arguing about the amount they were to receive, Cravat scratched the back of his head. Them femme fatales were deadly. He'd have to push himself if he wanted to keep up.

**_Author's Notes:_**

**_Yay, another chapter finished. I'll be posting it already, but since it's late here I may not be able to spot anything wrong with it. Please forgive me if there were any mistakes, I'll get to fixing them as soon as possible. Until next time then~_**

**_Small edit: I didn't really get to see how it looked like when it got posted, but for some reason the entire thing became in bold and italicized. Sorry about that, it's fixed now.  
_**


	5. Chapter 5 Happy Freaking Holidays

**Chapter 5**** - Happy Freaking Holidays**

_**December 24, 12:31pm**_

He could smell it now, the aroma from Kilika Fried Chocobo. It was a wonderful restaurant in homage to a city that was in a console game, naming its signature dish after a giant, fluffy, golden chicken. He always felt bad eating there, but at the same felt this sadistic satisfaction that he was possibly getting the next best thing to the real one. Still, they were adorable, and AMAZINGLY useful. Would _you_ eat an animal which could probably help you cross an entire ocean? Okay, that was in an earlier game, but hey, tomato potato. Among other things on their menu they had Cactuar Soup, Malboro Tentacles, which in all honesty was just Calamari with green food dye, and, I bet you didn't see this coming, Spicy Chocobo Wings.

Admittedly, that was all BS. There was no such thing as Kilika Fried Chocobo. Just another random thought that entered his mind as he travelled along the highway headed to a park near their school. The cold as well as the left over snow didn't really help in keeping his balance as he sped along. Clearing his head of any further thoughts, Cravat tried to recall why he was heading there in the first place. Ah yes, Kneesocks invited him for a little hangout time before Christmas Eve. They were meeting at the fountain at the center of the park. Cravat weaved through traffic like a Golden Chocobo on speed, well, if Golden Chocobos could create waves and pulses as it burst through the sound barrier every now and then. The occasional passing truck or car was thrown off course as Cravat sped up and down as he pleased, but he didn't do any serious damage.

"Wow I'm bored."

After listening to the beat the crashing cars and trucks gave out as he arrived at the park, Cravat parked Lash-Out at the sidewalk and dismounted. He started heading to the fountain, seeing a figure in the distance. Of course, it was Kneesocks, wearing a beige dress that stopped at about half her upper leg, her usual white thigh-highs, a furry beige jacket, some wool gloves and boots. She also carried a yellow shoulder-strapped bag. Her hair was tied in a ponytail as usual, her bangs just barely covering her bright emerald green eyes. In the hazy sunshine that escaped a parting in the clouds, he swore she looked something of an angel, her bright red complexion radiant as she basked in the sun's glow…

Dear god, this is what you get for attempting to finish that book where Vampires sparkle in the sunlight. He was sure Habit found enough merits in it to try and get him to read it, but it was just… so… He couldn't even describe it. Cravat re-read the entire Hellsing series to see Vampires the way they should be again. Hellsing, where Vampiric genitalia do not sparkle like 'diamonds'. Probably. He seriously thought they just mistook it for sweat.

Kneesocks had probably been there since 12:30, which was the original meeting time and now it was a just ten minutes to 1:00PM. 'I'm probably going to get a sermon for this,' Cravat thought to himself. Kneesocks must've spotted him, since she started walking in his direction. She was pouting slightly with her arms crossed. They were already in front of each other when she let out a sneeze. Cravat couldn't help but smile as he handed her a handkerchief from his pocket.

"Er, thank you," she mumbled as she blew her nose. "That wasn't as effective as the image I had in my head."

"Which was what? Pout me into submission?" Cravat joked. Kneesocks's pout was back.

"Why yes, in fact. Pouting would work well against males most of the time. Anyway, where do we go first?" Kneesocks asked as she gave back the handkerchief, which Cravat 'washed off' with some snow from the ground before putting it back in his coat. He scratched the back of his head and pointed to a strip of stores just across the park. The row of buildings had coffee shops, bookstores, restaurants and other places of leisure.

…

Okay honestly, what the hell was he supposed to do?

"Have you eaten lunch yet?" Cravat asked casually. Thinking of an imaginary food joint got him really hungry.

"No actually," Kneesocks replied.

After searching for a bit, they ate their lunch at this little restaurant. Among the things they ate were Cactus Soup, Special Green Calamari, and Buffalo Wings. 'If I didn't know any better, I'd say I was psychic, haha,' Cravat thought to himself. After they ate their fill they decided to go to a local arcade, where Kneesocks instantly challenged Cravat to a battle of Dance Dance Rebellion. Oh joy.

"Seriously?" he asked as she dragged him by the arm.

"Dance or feel my wrath," She said firmly. Okay, I think these were one of the moments he would have the urge to say… What was that term…? Oh yes, 'lolwut?'.

"I'm sure you convince eeeeveryone with that," Cravat said sarcastically.

"Erm, pleaaaaase?" Well there's a sudden mood switch. Not that he was intimidated by her, because when it came to games he gave it his all, even if it was a game about dancing in public and threatening to make yourself look like a total spaz while doing it. Of course, public opinion never really bothered him. 'Then spaz I shall,' Cravat thought to himself, 'Spaz I shall.'

He got up onto the glowing platform with vigor and conviction, straightening himself for what would probably be the most challenging thing he's ever done, second only to trying to understand how a woman worked. However this time, there will be no perceiving the meaning of 'Nothing' or 'We need to talk'. This time, there would only be stomping, slipping, and gnashing of teeth. For this version of DDR carried Paranoid~Lucifer~, DEAD END(Groovy Radical Spectaular), and Planet X Renounce. God have mercy on his soul. His feet and legs too. They're going to hurt like a bitch in the morning.

"Let's take turns then?" Kneesocks smirked as she leaned on the bar common to all DDR machines behind him.

"Fine with me."

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

"Owwww," Cravat whined as they went out of the arcade. He slipped on Paranoid ~Lucifer~ and a little bump on his head would forever be his reminder to utilize that blasted bar. But how the hell was he supposed to keep stepping on _all four arrows_ at the same time? His answer: use his hands. Eventually he got tangled and his face met the cool, hard, tiled floor. Shame too, he had a 666 combo going.

"I expect a deciding match one day," Cravat grumbled humorously, still trying to get the feelings back into his limbs. The muscles were all confused, when his brain moved his right hand, it moved his left leg. When he tried to move his left leg, his head would turn to the side.

"I still can't believe you didn't even try to use the bar. It isn't against the _rrruuurrss_ you know," she said as-a-matter-of-factly. "Now hold still while I patch you up. While you're at it, might as well wait until you stop spazzing like an idiot whenever you try to blink."

They sat down on a nearby bench and Kneesocks got a little box that was inside her bag. A homemade first-aid kit.

"You carry those around now?" Cravat asked as she got some canned ice and sprayed a small amount on his forehead. "FREAKING-"

"Oh don't be such a baby. You've been to the clinic six times during the week you were in school. I thought you'd be used to this by now."

"In my defense most of those trips were because of varying circumstances."

"Your stupidity for instance?"

"Of course, that's _always_ a given," Cravat laughed. Kneesocks noticed he had a graze where the bump was and applied a band-aid to it. A Hello-Kitty band-aid, no less. "And now I look like an idiot."

"That's fine then. You won't notice the difference."

"Oh har har."

After Kneesocks put her kit back into her bag, they started to walk along the buildings again, looking for anything that piqued their interest. Cravat spotted a little gift shop at the corner. He decided it would be a good idea to get some last minute shopping done before Christmas arrived. Dragging Kneesocks by the arm, he pointed over to the gift shop as they marched toward it. When they entered, they were greeted by a plethora of cute and adorable key-chains, stuffed toys, various MP3 Players and headphones, accessories, and the like. Now what would a girl want….

"Kneesocks, what would you like for Christmas?" he asked nonchalantly as he browsed through a plethora of different colored miniature bears. Kneesocks thought for a moment, placing a finger ever so delicately on her chin.

"Whatever you think is best," she replied.

Cravat hated those kinds of answers. It's more like women saying 'surprise me, come on, buy me something, I _dare_ you', or something like that. Okay, only some women were like that, but hey. You never know. He decided to play it safe, well, safe by some logic, and went with a stuffed penguin that could squeak. Squeak little penguin, squeak for you are now mine!

"Now for the others…" Cravat whispered to himself. What the hell would he get for Panty and Stocking? He already saw something that he would give Habit, a giant cookie pillow. After much deliberation, he decided to buy Stocking a white stuffed cat while he bought Panty a pink stuffed bunny. No implications there whatsoever. Nope. None at all. *coughplayboybunnycough*

After making the purchase, he went up to Kneesocks and gave her the penguin. She seemed to appreciate it.

"Aw, thank you," she smiled. She reached into the plastic bag in her hands and held out an MP3 player and a headset. Holy crap, was she psychic or something? "You said you had trouble sleeping at night. I suggest listening to some classical music to lull yourself to sleep."

"Woah, wow, uh," Cravat struggled to find the words of appreciation that would be most fitting of his situation. He was now saved from sleepless nights, all that annoying moaning and shouting. He was _free_. Okay, that was overreacting, but dear lord. He wanted to glomp her right now. "This must've been expensive, are you sure?"

"My father's the mayor. Such expenses are trivial."

"But still…"

"I promise it isn't a big deal. Now, just accept my benevolence," She lightly nudged the package into his chest. Cravat took it slowly from her hand and put it in the bag he was holding, alongside all the other furry little critters in there. "Now was that so hard?"

"Excuse me," the cashier interrupted. "Are you two related by any chance? Or are you friends maybe?" he asked. Cravat and Kneesocks exchanged glances and let out a slight laugh.

"Well, we're obviously not related," Cravat commented, pointing out Kneesocks's reddish complexion. "And yes we're friends."

"I see, I see," the cashier said within earshot. His hand slowly crept beneath the counter and the distinct click of a button could be heard. "Thank you for joining our Christmas event today. Hope you two aren't camera shy."

They noticed something hovering above them, slowly lowering down. There _was_ a sign saying something about Christmas Events in the store lately, but they didn't really get to read it. Something about couples? 'Let's see,' Cravat thought, 'Christmas, plus couples, plus cameras...?' The two of them glanced over to a wall just behind the counter, filled with various photos. All of them had two people in it, usually a guy and a girl, but some had two girls and two guys, interestingly. But there was no denying what they were doing in the pictures. The mechanism above them stopped. It was carrying what looked like a plant. Cravat realized what it was.

"Hey look, mistletoe."

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

_**December 31, 8:32 pm…**_

He's been thinking of the same thing for a while, which was 'Merry Freaking Christmas to me~'. Not bad for Christmas on the surface. Also: Floaty. That's what he'd been feeling like for the past few days. Floaty. A store event where suspected couples would be pictured kissing under a mistletoe. So cliché, yet never did he feel so… Floaty. Did he mention he felt floaty? Thank the lord for crazy traditions. That and Kneesocks's obligation to the rules. She knew what that little hemi-parasitic plant meant. Given it was on the cheek, but hey. All that aside, he was snapped back to reality by the smell of something good cooking. Ah yes, the mouth-watering smell of steak.

"Is it ready yeeeet?" Cravat sang out as he rolled around on the living room floor. Garterbelt was cooking a 5-Star restaurant feast for New Year's Eve, and Cravat wanted to sink his teeth into some juicy, medium-rare meat right now. Oh dear lord and the Cheesecake, he thought to himself. "Does silence mean no?"

"Silence means you ain't getting any if you keep bitching, now just be patient for the love of all that is good and holy!" Garterbelt thundered from the kitchen. Cravat gave out a loud laugh and sat up straight, focusing again on the T.V. screen. Brief had come over to play a few rounds with him on 'Ultra Street Brawler 6: Fate of Three Dimensions' before the New Year, and right now they were at a stalemate.

"I applaud you Brief, you're pretty good," Cravat praised as they both fought each other to another draw. Furious fingers were flying and flailing as they fought to find an opening in each other's defenses. Hurray for assonance.

"I never even knew that combo was possible!" Brief exclaimed in awe, and then countered with his own set of flurries. "This fight is super special awesome!"

"You got that from that parody series in YouTube didn't you?" Cravat laughed in amusement. "You better not suddenly challenge me to a rap battle."

"No no, of course not, haha."

They continued with their little match for quite a while. It was amazing how time flew when you weren't paying attention. Eventually they'd played a little over a hundred matches, Brief winning by two. They leaned back on the couch, stretching their fingers and getting the blood to rush back.

"Damn man, you're good. Do you get all that inspiration from Panty?" Cravat asked with a raised eyebrow. Brief started stuttering all of a sudden, obviously defensive.

"H-how d-d-do you know about th-that?"

Cravat laughed maniacally while slapping his right knee. He almost fell over on the sofa but grabbed an arm to steady himself. "You realize you basically drool as much as Chuck does with food when she's around right?"

"Gah…" Brief couldn't find a reply to that. Ever since the first time he'd met her that fateful day the Anarchy Sisters literally crashed through the walls of Daten City High, he'd been infatuated to the point he didn't even know why anymore. Is that plausible? Being attracted to someone just because? By now he didn't really care anymore. Brief just knew he cared for that sexy-ass blonde flirt.

"You know she's slept with basically a thousand guys right?"

"751 last I heard…" Brief absent-mindedly replied. Cravat looked a little surprised.

"You actually _count_?" Cravat asked, with both a hint of amazement and hint of 'dude, what the hell?', that and 'Holy freaking shit she's slept with THAT many?'. It was an amazing, albeit disturbing revelation on his part. "So yeah that's a lot of guys. You're fine with that?"

"Well…" Brief started, pondering on what he would say. What _could_ he say? That he was attracted to this girl because she's so damn gorgeous she could get guys to sleep with her with a snap of her fingers? That wasn't it. He knew that much. "It doesn't matter to me that she's slept with hundreds-"

"751."

"… 751 men and she probably won't be stopping any time soon. But she's… a good person inside," Brief paused for a moment. "Erm, no sexual innuendo intended. She cares for her sister, and at least _tries_ helping with collecting Heavens," Cravat snickered at that last bit, but Brief ignored him. "She told me before that she couldn't wait to get back to Heaven. I think she's just homesick and venting it out with… sex. Kind of like Stocking's obsession with sweet things, er, sort of. Okay not really. Stocking just likes eating sweet stuff. Panty probably also just likes sex…" Brief paused again. It was pretty funny. In all honesty he couldn't find a good enough argument to defend Panty's flirtatious practices.

"You know, I don't think that was convincing as you wanted it to be," Cravat stated, lying back on the sofa with his arms outstretched and looking up at the ceiling. Brief was leaning forward slightly, twiddling his fingers and sighing. He got up and turned to Cravat with a contented expression, a small smile tugging at the sides of his mouth.

"I guess I believe in one thing though. When you love someone you accept them the way they are. I think it's a lot easier that way."

The statement both took Cravat aback and caused a slight feeling of commendation for Brief to manifest. 'Damn man, kudos to you.' Cravat started to wonder if he would be able to do the same. Not that he had anyone in mind that was as vulgar and perverted as Panty. With all this talk about Panty and the others, he started to wonder where the hell they were. The three of them said they would have an 'end of the year girl's night out', but they would be home for the New Year. It was almost 10:00pm. Brief noticed the time too.

"I better get going, my dad has this special party set up for New Year's. Relatives and guests and all, that and I have to help with a few fireworks for the midnight," Brief said as he packed up his belongings. He waved Cravat goodbye and gave Chuck a belly-rub before heading out the door. Brief thanked Garter as he exited, who bellowed a loud 'You're Welcome'. Cravat sat there, bored, hungry, and alone. 'So _ronery,_' he humorously mused to himself.

Eventually, he and Garterbelt had to eat with just the two of them at the table. It was a quarter past eleven when they stopped eating, with Cravat finishing off almost half the cheesecake and a piece from each meat and pastry that was on the table. It was only then that the three women stormed in, crashing the door open and strode inside. They had obviously been drinking, their faces a noticeable shade of red, as well as having a dim-witted grin. Panty had three guys following her around, while Stocking had one. Looks like someone's trying to fill a void.

Stocking had lost the 'love of her life' yesterday, a Ghost she'd met while off with Panty looking for men to pick up. The Ghost achieved what it wanted to, to _truly _fall in love, so he went on peacefully to the afterlife. Stocking was heartbroken for a while, especially since the Ghost had proposed to her that night. She still keeps the ring hanging on one of her stuffed toys in her room, a constant reminder of the love they'd shared. A very interesting pair, but love nonetheless. But her bringing home a man may be a sign she's still not over it, but that was just Cravat's speculation.

Habit ran up to Cravat and tackled him off the chair, both of them hitting the ground with a loud thud. "Raaaaavvyyyyyyy~ I meesd yoouuu~ It's been MONFS hashn't it?" she slurred out loud, latching onto his neck. Cravat struggled pitifully, trying to get the inebriated girl off him, but to no avail. She had a vice grip like no other. He just stood up and shifted Habit into a piggy-back position and grabbed hold of her legs, which made Habit yelp. "Ravvy~! Nut where ev'rywun ken see us, yoo naughty boyee~"

Oh dear lord. She must've drunk her maximum tonight. Two shot glasses. That's all it took to get her mispronouncing words like an idiot. "No Habit, it hasn't been 'monfs'. You're just drunk."

"Orly nao?" she sang out.

"Yes really," he responded, finishing that widely used internet slang he learned then taught to her. Habit nuzzled his neck as she buried her face into it, giggling ever so childishly. The last time she was this drunk was back in Little Tokyo. Habit rampaged through the entire city, happily whistling the tune of 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' while stealing and eating every cookie-based product within a one mile radius. That one night Cravat learned the only way to make Habit calm down was letting her look at colorful or shiny objects and patterns, luring her back into their church with an M&Ms laden cookie wrapped in tin foil. Since it was almost the New Year, and he was short on M&Ms and tin foil, he decided to take her outside to see the lightshow that was about to ensue. "Hey Habit, you want to go see the fireworks?"

"Yesh~ Firewurks~!" Cravat shifted her on his back and carried her out the door, just in front on the lawn. The others must've thought the same thing, as they were all joining him outside to see the crackling lights in the sky. 11:59pm with almost five more seconds to go. Time for a countdown.

"Fiiiiiiive~" Habit shouted, making Cravat wince as she tore his right eardrum a new one.

"Fooour!" Stocking sang out this time, with that 'w' expression on her face.

"THREE FOR THREE TIMES THE FUN!" Panty blurted out, waving a half finished bottle of wine in the air.

"Two!" The men the girls brought home exclaimed, the three with Panty shouting especially loud.

"One," Cravat said loud enough so the others could hear. A small silent pause, then the fireworks were all up in the sky, exploding in a myriad of colors and patterns, in hearts, circles, swirls, and swooshes. They all marveled at the sight, ooh-ing and ahh-ing. The cliff they were on was one hell of a vantage point. Cravat noticed that the most extravagant ones came from a large house somewhere far off. 'Brief said something about fireworks… I wonder which ones are from his house…?'

"Well alright! Let's get our sex on!" Panty exclaimed, raising her fist in the air. "I'll go on ahead to 'get ready'. Meet you three in there~" she provocatively said in a sing-song fashion. Stocking went ahead as well, telling her partner to follow her when he's ready. Before any of the males entered the house, Cravat stood in front of all of them, assessing each one. He turned to the three who Panty picked up. They looked healthy enough, although they might be in for one hell of an, *ahem*, 'ride', so to speak, once they realize what they just got themselves into. Cravat snickered as he gave them some advice, or lack thereof.

"You three… Just… Good luck in there," Cravat snickered. The three of men shrugged, and one of them patted him on the shoulder as they walked past.

"You're lucky to be living with these women, kid. Must keep you up _every _night."

'Ah, if you only knew, good man, if you only knew,' Cravat thought to himself as the man walked away. Cravat turned to the one paired up with Stocking and gave him a serious gaze.

"She just got her heart broken. Be gentle with her," Cravat said, offering his hand out for a bro-fist. The guy obliged, then they both did the obligatory secret Bro-Code handshake, and an around the world high-five for good measure. It was still a little weird for Cravat to be playing the protective one, and slightly awkward. But hey, he would never want anything bad to happen to anyone he knew.

"Will do, little man, will do."

'At least there are some decent people left in the world,' Cravat thought to himself. Well, the meaning of the term decent may vary from person to person, but hey. Habit then shifted on his back. When he turned to look at her, she had one wide smirk on her face.

"Hey Ravioli, you, me, bedroom, wanna?" she said, trying to seduce him even more by pushing her breasts against his back. Cravat kept his cool. As much as a temptation that was, raging hormones shall not get the better of him… for now anyway.

"Habit, you're drunk. It would be better if you rest. You're going to be bitching about that hangover tomorrow."

"Aww, but sex is fun~" she said playfully. Now she was doing grinding motions with her hips. Freaking hell man, freaking hell.

'Shut up bulge in pants, you have no say in this,' he thought to himself jokingly. Well, half-jokingly. "I'm sure it is Habit. But we'll both regret it in the morning if we go through with it."

"No fun person, that's what you are… no fun…" she started to yawn. Habit was starting to lose her grip so Cravat shifted her into his arms, carrying her bridal style all the way back into her room. He let her down gently, seeing as she had already fallen asleep in his arms.

"The intensity of her silence sleeping mirrors how pissy she'll be in the morning…" he whispered to himself, laughing a little. He got the sheets and put it over her, and she whispered a thank you as he left the room. 'Always so damn adorable. You're not fair Habit.'

Soon enough the cries of both Panty and Stocking reached the empty hallway, where he took out his MP3 player and his Headphones, playing some classical like Kneesocks suggested on loop to block out everything. No way in hell he was going to go to Stocking's room for the night, so he decided to go to the living room just downstairs and play video games until he fell asleep. The faint sounds of lovemaking still found its way through the music he was listening to, but at a tolerable volume. As the game started up, and the symphony of Canon mixed with passionate throes of sex mingled in his ears, Cravat smiled to himself. "Happy Freaking New Year."

_**Author's Notes:**_

_**Well this chapter's a few weeks overdue, both by my updating standards and by calendar standards. Meh.**_

_**Anyway, sorry for the late update guys, school's been keeping me busy. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll try to update one on time next week, but we still have projects and tests that need to be done. I'll try as hard as I can to update on time, but I can guarantee I'll update eventually. Bye for now then~**_

_**EDIT: I forgot to mention I posted a pic of Cravat and Habit. Just look here: **_.com/art/Cravat-and-Habit-194079960


	6. Chapter 6 Explosive Subliminal Messages

**Chapter 6 – ****Explosive Subliminal Messages**

A loud rumbling noise suddenly shook everything just as 3:00AM came. Explosions came from outside, breaching Cravat's ears, giving him a rude awakening. He fluttered his eyes open, just to be met by a blinding white light that flashed passed the window. He felt around his head and removed his headphones and MP3, tucking them away in a corner of the sofa he slept on.

"Honestly, these Ghosts, so inconsiderate," he yawned as sat up straight. He looked around and saw the TV monitor flickering. Seems like he forgot to put it on a sleep-timer. Using the faint light, he found the remote and turned the TV off. Now it was all dark again. Another flash at the window, and he had to cover his eyes so he wouldn't go blind. First the girls now this. Will he ever get to sleep soundly? Okay, rhetorical question. Of course not. The thought had become nothing more than a long forgotten dream over the past month. Cravat went up to the window and opened it, looking around as he poked his head outside. Sure enough, hundreds of dancing lights came into view, swirling and twirling into one giant mass in the distance. The fastest way to get down right now was to just drop. So drop he did, falling two storeys down, landing without a fuss. As he walked up to the light, the front door to the tower opened, revealing three obviously hung-over girls waddling towards him. It's a good thing he hated sparkly drinks.

"*ahem* Rough night?" Cravat sarcastically questioned as he slowed down to let them catch up to him. His comment was met with a kick to the shins then a shoulder to the ribs from both Panty and Stocking respectively, but he laughed through the coughing and groaning. Cravat noticed Habit looking blankly at the ground. She did that a lot already, but right now it looked as though she really had nothing on her mind. Cravat gave her a little wave in front of the eyes. No response.

"Habit? You okay?"

"Head… hurts…" she managed to let out. There's the Habit he knew.

"Don't drink so much next time then. Try taking more than two shots and you'll keel over."

"Waaaah, don't shout at meee~" Habit winced as she covered her ears and pouted at him. Cravat ruffled her red hair, then pinched her cheeks, to which she squirmed out of, annoyed. Cravat let out a laugh.

"I'm not shouting. You just have one hell of a headache."

They fell into a line in front of the Ghost that was forming. Given it was made up of fireworks, a soul of one who'd died due to misfire maybe? Or something? Probably. Who questioned the logic of how these Ghosts were made anyway? Not them, certainly. They were there to kill them, exterminate them, and gather the Heavens that appear after. It was interesting how Heavens would appear after you kill a Ghost. It was like finding the logic behind why enemies in random encounters of an insurmountable amount of RPGs carried GP or Gil or Gald or whatever. It just was. The Ghost soon took form, a giant, rocket-like firecracker with four afterburners. It was the usual black with blood-red highlights in various places where light bounced off. It had a menacing face with narrowed slits for eyes. Its mouth was curled in a sadistic smile as it watched them from above, waiting to see what we would do next.

"You know from here it looks kinda like a penis," Panty said out loud as she fell face first into the ground laughing like a maniac. Cravat carefully raised his hand in front of his face. With one swift movement he smacked it with his palm. Classic time to do one of those.

"Honestly, if someone did an X-Ray of your head it would be filled with the word 'Sex'," he sarcastically stated as he got ready for the assault. The girls however didn't look like they would be able to handle a fight. They were wobbly, had blank stares on their faces, and looked like they were about to throw up. Taking advantage of their probable gullibility right now, he turned to the girls and herded them towards the door leading back to the house. "You know what? You guys are dreaming right now."

"Huh, really…?" Habit asked as she rubbed her eyes while being pushed. "I could've sworn I saw a Ghost just now…"

"No no, you're all… happily in bed. Habit, you're sleeping, Panty, you're having…" Try as he might, he will never be able to bleach imagining four people in bed at once, "… a foursome, and Stocking, you're…" Cravat couldn't seem to continue.

'Woah woah woah, what was that?' he thought to himself. Why'd he trail off? He didn't know either. What the hell is this, character development? "… with someone. Now go on, go back to happy land."

"You gotta be shittin with us Otakun~" Stocking asked groggily as they were forced through the door. She still had that stupid grin on her face. Must've been a pretty good night for her at least.

"I am not to be 'shitting' with you. Now get." Cravat shut the door closed not a moment too soon. The ghost had fired a volley of rockets from compartments in its body, sending a barrage right at him. "Ho sheet."

He darted forward, ducking below the rockets that were about to nick him and just charged for the main Ghost. Feeling pretty smug about dodging the Ghost's first attack, he readied his whips, which materialized in a split second. But something was off. He didn't hear an explosion, or that crackle when a firework goes off. As he was speeding towards the Ghost he just took a quick peek behind him. In a moment, he launched off the ground into a back-flip. 'That's just wonderful, target-tracking firecrackers of doom.' He sarcastically mused to himself. Finalizing his suspicions, the rockets sent at him took a beeline, staying on target. As he flipped himself in the air, he managed to grab hold of one of the rockets, and he pulled it towards him. He landed on it like it was a surfboard and started sky-surfing with it, shouting with vigor as he found a steady position. Now by normal standards this would be impossible. But hey, his job wouldn't really be considered pretty normal anyway.

"Huh, reminds me of Demons Can Cry," Cravat shifted his weight to turn a little to face the Ghost. "I'm coming for you, bitch!" he barked, his arms spread wide. He never took his coat off from the night before so it was flailing in the air, as he would call it, 'epically', and his Ghost Kiras were wound up and ready to rip his target a new one. His prey seemed to be intimidated by him, judging from the way it cringed as he got closer. Firing all four of its after burners while shooting another barrage of rockets at Cravat, it made its escape towards the city. "Oooh, Hopscotch. I love this game."

In all honesty, this was getting pretty fun, Ghost hunting above the city, the New Year just rolled in, and playing Hopscotch on deadly, target-seeking, explody sticks. What more could a guy ask for? He wasn't getting any closer to Mr. Phallic Rocket though. As he hopped along it got further and further away, and Cravat realized he would have to think of something before he lost his first Ghost of the year. Seeing as more and more rockets were coming his way, one of those little light-bulbs appeared over his head. No wait, it was just a rocket nearly missing his eye-socket. Nevertheless, he had something in mind.

He hopped onto one rocket and stayed there, waiting for all the others to hone in on him. At the last second, he jumped skyward, releasing his Ghost Kiras and swung them in two wide arcs to his sides, catching all the rockets that were supposed to collide with him. Cravat continued the motion and swung his arms down this time, clumping all the rockets he caught together into one big cluster. Pulling on his whips to let them wrap around the entire thing and locking them in place, he had himself one giant clump of killer rockets now manipulated by tugging his whips. Only in Daten City. 'This could be a ride at a carnival or something,' Cravat thought to himself. "Well, minus the imminent explosion."

How many rockets did he have? No idea, but the cluster was as large as a car, no joke. He was still lagging behind slightly, so he decided to 'fan the flames', if you will. He flicked his arms down, and the entire thing followed. As he nose-dove into a side-walk, he jerked his whips up, letting the ends of the rockets skid across the ground. The people on the streets were shouting, screaming, and flailing their arms as they jumped out of his path. After a few seconds of skidding, the ends flared up, sending him shooting upwards at his target. Cravat knew the rockets could explode at any second now, so he loosened the grip of his whips that held the entire thing together. Narrowing his eyes, he waited for the moment before impact. At the exact second his makeshift doom weapon collided with its mark, he jumped off towards a building nearby, using his whips to grab onto an emergency stairwell and swung himself up to the roof. The Ghost was thrown off course right onto the roof he landed on, while the rockets he let loose exploded in a myriad of colors in the air. He sat up and pondered what had just happened. He actually did that.

"Well damn. I just did that." Cravat reflected as he brushed himself off. It wasn't like he wasn't used to crazy-ass chases, given he always had about five of those a week with Panty and Stocking, but hell, it felt good. Adrenaline was still pumping through him as a maniacal smirk spread across his features. He readied his Ghost Kiras as he approached his downed enemy. The Ghost suddenly shifted, and plucked itself from the hole it made when it crashed, and tossed itself itself upright. Segments of it suddenly started to split open and shifted in position. The four afterburners shifted, two near the upper segment, while the other two stayed put at the bottom. As they locked in place, arms and legs formed while the eyes shifted itself to the front, as well as its mouth, bearing its fangs at Cravat. He stared slack-jawed at the sight. He tried to utter words to properly express what he was thinking right now, which was 'What in overly used clichéd exclamations just happened?' he thought to himself. 'Seriously, I thought they had a Transmorfer episode already.'

"Did you just-" he started, still unable to fully express himself.

"Yep," the Ghost quickly replied. It stretched and cracked its arms and legs while eyeing him. 'Cold, daunting, and vicious. Like most Ghosts,' Cravat thought to himself.

"I thought you were the soul of someone who died while playing with fireworks?"

"Yes. I died while playing with fireworks. While I was watching Transmorfers." It replied plainly. Cravat scratched the back of his head a little.

"And that translates into becoming a Firecracker Transmorfer Ghost?"

"So it seems. Now are you going to try and purify me, purge, whatever or what?"

"Ghost got sass. Alright then bud, you asked for it," Cravat stiffened himself, prepared for another volley of rockets. The Ghost planted its feet into the ground pointed its right arm at him, and in a flash a fist launched itself into Cravat's ribs with a sickening, distinct sound of fracturing. Cravat was flung backwards from the sheer impact as the fist rebounded back to its owner. Spitting blood that pooled slightly in his mouth, he addressed his opponent again. Cravat forced himself up, still feeling slightly feeling the aftereffects of being blown back like he was nothing.

"Well that was unexpected," Cravat clutched his right side as he could feel a bruise starting to form. The Ghost started to ready itself again for another rocket-fist, but Cravat already made his move. He dashed forward with such force that the air around him created a shockwave. Just as the Ghost fired, he abruptly stopped himself just in front of it and dashed right, the fist missing him completely. The Ghost aimed quickly and fired off its remaining left fist, but Cravat anticipated this and dropped, sliding under the Ghost's legs. He let loose his whips, swinging his arms forward, and the whips flew wildly, managing to latch onto the Ghost's feet.

Cravat flipped onto his front then launched himself off the ground with his forearms back into a standing position. The Ghost was thrown off-balance, and fell over with a loud bang, sending a few rockets misfiring into the stratosphere. Cravat heaved with the newfound adrenaline pumping through his veins like the greasy goodness of a Quadruple Clogger from Mendy's and flung the Ghost off the roof into the vacant lot in the distance. He could barely hear the loud crash as the Ghost collided with the pavement, making more rockets misfire from all over its body. Cravat jumped off the building aiming straight for the empty lot. He suddenly heard crackling noises from behind.

"Ah hell no-" one of the fists that missed collided with his back. Cravat could do nothing but endure the blow as it propelled him through the air. Homing rocket fists. Should've expected that. He was knocked away from the first fist after it slowed down, only to be smashed from above by the other one that had missed. It corkscrewed itself into his abdomen and slammed him into the concrete lot below, knocking the wind right out of him.

Cravat coughed up blood, and its metallic taste lingered in his mouth. He slowly got up brushing himself off once again and checking to see if a piece of concrete lodged itself anywhere on his body. Seems to be fine, he thought.

"Well this has been wonderful," the Ghost suddenly called out, cracking his fists in delight as he strode closer to Cravat. "By the way, where are those bitch-angels? I haven't seen them. Off getting banged are they?" the Ghost asked, distinctly mocking them. "I myself shot them with fireworks of my own while I was still alive, _if you know what I mean_."

"DUDE. I DID _NOT_ NEED THAT MENTAL IMAGE," Cravat quickly shouted, his face distorted into an expression of 'WHAT THE HELL MAN.'

"Alas, my hobby of collecting actual fireworks backfired on me when the lighter I was using for a smoke dropped into my box full of explosive fun."

"Is that still a sexual innuendo or did that really happen?"

"No innuendo intended. I realize I seem to have a tendency to do that."

"No shit," Cravat said, still with that same look on his face.

"… Anyway, now here I am. Honestly I got bored of them, one's too easy to please and the other is into some freaky shit. Plus the blue-haired one called me a gym-rat once. Bitch."

"Ooooh, _you're_ the quick-shot they were talking about?" he asked, remembering the sisters recalling an argument they had. Apparently they had a little cat-fight over whom and how many guys they had and the quality of their skills. Not something decent people talk about over breakfast, but hey, they're not exactly saints here. Then they got to someone who Stocking called a gym-rat, to which Panty agreed he really wasn't _that_ good, and was quite the quick-shot. Why'd he remember all this? It isn't exactly easy to bleach their interpretations of each session they had with obviously only some of the men they've been with. He never even knew the female body could bend that way.

"F-fuck, they said that?" the Ghost asked, looking very distraught.

"Yeah, sorry bud. Now why don't you go rest in peace?" Cravat suggested. Was it just him or was this conversation with a Ghost much more civil than most conversations he'd had with Panty or Stocking?

"I guess. But come on, I can't go down like that submissive guy the blue one liked so much can I? You'll have to beat me for it," it stated, readying itself again for the final round.

"Alright then. Happy New Year by the way."

"Happy New Year to you too," As the Ghost let go of those words, a glint suddenly appeared in the distance. What was it…? It was getting closer and closer. Was he imagining things or was that Kneesocks riding… a… oh dear god, was that a Mecha Unicorn?

"Okay what the hell?" he muttered under his breath as the figures in the distance got closer and closer. The Ghost was quickly impaled by the Unicorn's horn, and then destroyed by a multi-colored rainbow beam. The art suddenly shifted into 3D models, wherein the Ghost exploded, screaming its last words before its demise. After the art shifted back to the normal 2D, Kneesocks, clad only in an armored bikini, got down from the Mecha Unicorn and strode towards Cravat extremely provocatively, her hips swinging side to side.

"Kneesocks…?" he asked within earshot as she came face to face with him. She suddenly grabbed him by the collar and started to press her lips against his. It eventually turned into a complete make-out session, and after a good few seconds she shoved him down on the cold concrete floor. She started to take off her top, teasingly putting her arms around her chest to block his view. She placed herself on top of him, pressing her chest against his. 'DEAR GOD WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?' he thought to himself.

"I must be dreaming…" Cravat said out loud. As Kneesocks started to glide her hand down to his pants, she looked up at him and replied.

"Why yes, yes you are."

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

Cravat's eyes shot open. What the hell was that? How long had he been out? Not for very long probably, since he distinctly heard a rocket gliding away. He got up and saw the Ghost just as it was in his dream: retrieving its fist and readying itself once again. He coughed up blood, and its metallic taste lingered in his mouth. He slowly got up brushing himself off and checking to see if a piece of concrete lodged itself anywhere on his body. Seems to be fine, he thought. Woah, déjà vu.

"You wouldn't have happened to be a gym-rat who happened to bang Panty and Stocking in the past would you…?" he asked out of the sheer curiosity of what he'd just dreamed of.

"What the hell are you talking about? I don't know anyone named Pantsy and Stalker or whatever. Come on already, I'm getting bored here." The Ghost beckoned, still reeling for a continuation. Cravat shook the thought out of his head and focused on the here and now.

'Bah, whatever. Must've been the steak," Cravat darted forward, having newfound reason to end this fight: He wanted to go home and sleep the entire thing off, because as things were he had this really awkward feeling lingering in him. Very very awkward. As the two fists fired at him, it seemed like he knew their movements already. As if they were moving in slow-motion, he reacted by bending his upper body backwards, the sharp tail-fins barely missing his face. He swung his arms forward, the whips following his movements, and they latched onto the Ghost's body and wrapped all the way around until its legs. Cravat proceeded to jump over the Ghost and tightened the grip his whips had on it, immobilizing its entire body instantly.

"Other than your rockets and your rocket fists you've pretty much got nothing going for you do you?" Cravat remarked when he landed behind the Ghost. "Other than that, once you fire your fists, you can't do anything else until they return because you use your hands in order to open the compartments to your rocketry that you keep sealed shut to avoid misfire. With a strong enough impact however it can still be knocked open."

The Ghost was pretty impressed. It didn't think the guy who looked like nothing but an idiotic shut-in to the world would be able to analyze it so well. "You don't look smart but you actually pretty are. Kudos," it commented. It let out a loud whimper of pain when Cravat shoved his foot against its back, forcing it forward to tighten the grip of his whips even more.

"I'll take that as a compliment. Now watch for the birdie~" Cravat steadied his position. Just as he thought the fists were coming back at them, still not being able to make contact with their target. The fists pounded into its host's body with crushing force, sending both of them flying backwards. Cravat struggled to keep the fists in contact with the Ghost, when he had an, wait for it, _epic_ idea. He jumped off the ground, bringing the Ghost with him. He flipped it horizontally in mid-air and rode it like a skateboard, and just as he thought, the fists followed his movements, now crushing the Ghost once more and propelling them upwards into the sky. As they soared higher and higher, he pried open a rocket compartment and got one. He reached as far as he could over one side of the Ghost and lit the fuse, then shoved the firecracker back into the compartment. The Ghost knew what the internal combustion would result into, which was his eventual explosion.

"Rest in peace."

Cravat pulled strongly on his whips, which tightened and diced through the Ghost, one long vertical afterimage as well as one long horizontal one, forming a cross in the sky. At the exact moment the Ghost was destroyed, the fireworks within it exploded, a first array of that year's lightshow exploding in the sky. A giant cross and a background of fireworks, a Testament to a productive year to come. It shouted one final statement before it disintegrated entirely.

"START THINGS OFF WITH A BANG!"

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

Cravat lied down on the couch, entirely exhausted. He took his coat off and hung it on a rack in the living room where last night's escapade had yet to be cleaned. As he sat there waiting once again for the sand-woman to lull him to slumber, out of the corner of his eye he spied movement. Stocking was up. Was she waiting for him?

"Hey," she said, obviously sleepy.

"What are you doing up so late?" he asked, getting up from the couch. He patted her head.

"You weren't there by the bed. What happened last night…?" she asked, rubbing her eyes. Cravat guided her back to her room while explaining what had occurred, along with the drunkenness and the singing and the recording and the whatnot. "Wow. That bad?"

"Eh, you've had better days," he said humorously. As he opened the door to her room, he noticed Stocking's partner was nowhere to be found. "What happened to the guy you were with?"

Stocking thought hard, massaging her head, trying to recall. "If I remember correctly, before he parking his Corvette into my garage…"

'And now I will never be able to look at a Chevvy Coupe the same way again,' Cravat thought to himself while laughing in his head.

"… Panty came bursting into the room and took him away. I was too stoned to care to remember if he came back after that."

Cravat tucked Stocking into her bed and said his goodnights-slash-good mornings to her. He then jumped into his own bed and relished the feeling. 'Good to be back,' he thought.

"By the way Otakun," Stocking said as she peeked at him from under her sheets. "Would you like to start _your_ year with a _bang_ if you know what I mean?" she said extremely suggestively but at the same time in a joking manner. How the hell did she manage to do that?

"If I hear that pun another time I think I'd rather stay chaste for the next few months, thank you very much," he replied in a similar fashion. Stocking merely laughed before turning the other way.

He then remembered that freaky-ass dream he had when he fought that Ghost. He merely laughed, genuinely at first, then with a nervous undertone after.

Speaking to Kneesocks is going to be _veeeeery_ awkward the next time he sees her.

_**Author's Notes: HOLY CRAAAAP. Sorry for the late updates recently. School's been driving me like a pack mule lately _. Anyway, thanks for the comments and stuff. I'll update when I get to update, but believe me, I will eventually update, NO MATTER HOW LONG IT TAKES XD Bye for now then guys, I'll edit this properly if there are any mistakes when I get back from school. It's 12:30AM here XD. Bye now~**_


	7. Chapter 7 Planting the Seeds of Doubt

**Chapter 7 – Planting the Seeds of Doubt**

Winter was starting to come and go as snow slowly drifted down and stopped every now and then. In two months, Spring would show itself, but right now, it was still as cold as a damn freezer no matter where you went.

It's been two weeks since New Year's eve, and nothing much has happened other than school, Cravat dismissing that awkward feeling he had with Kneesocks after his dream as nothing but eating undercooked steak, Habit getting a new set of throwing knives and hatchets, Panty having sex with about thirty more men in the span of fourteen days, and Stocking starring in a commercial for ice-cream dressed as a giant scoop of Vanilla or something like that. Yep, nothing much happening. Oh, and the Ghost hunting. Can't forget about the Ghost hunting.

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

"Dammit it all," Cravat cussed under his breath. He somehow found himself in a dumpster after the Chainsaw Ghost went texas-style-anti-tree-massacre on them and started shredding the hell out of an innocent oak the size of a building that was in its proximity, sending big chunks of bark-shrapnel all over the place, with Habit deflecting a six-foot branch by throwing her hatchet at it. Subsequently, it was deflected in his direction and pounded him right in the chest, sending him flying backwards past a mob of curious onlookers then into the shady depths of a sidewalk trash-can. He was lucky it wasn't a _car_ she deflected at him, and in the name of clichéd exclamatory emphasis she was more than capable of doing so. He brushed off what he could only guess were the gooey remains of some yogurt... well, he prayed that it was yogurt, off his shoulder, and lunged himself forward towards the Ghost once again. Its form was that of a humanoid made of chainsaws, axes, and buzz-saws all neatly combined into one coherent form. Those buzz-saw feet were dangerous. Hell, the entire Ghost was a deathtrap. Try to strike it with a weapon and it just shreds it apart, a hard thing Stocking had to learn when it shattered her Stripes 2. Right now they were all just circling it and trying to get it away from the general populace, which was a hard thing to do when they're all fricking taking videos and pictures of the fiasco.

"I'M GOING TO FREAKING MURDER YOU," Stocking shouted, before dodging frantically to the left as the Ghost let loose a few lightning-fast spinning saw-blades of doom from its body in her direction. "… as soon as I find out how," she got up and started shouting at Cravat to distract it while she went and paired up with Habit for a flanking strike. Cravat sighed as he whipped at the Ghost's feet, creating a thunderous crack, catching the Ghost's attention. Cravat readied himself for a barrage of sharp and pointy objects since, well, as much as he loved sharp and pointy objects, they would probably cause severe bleeding and hemorrhaging at the least. Oh look, he was bleeding already, right where he got nicked by the branch earlier. It must have torn through his skin or something. Blood was really warm, come to think of it. It amazed him how he could bleed so much and not wind up blacking-out. Hurray for augmented Angel vitality. Was he thinking indiscriminate thoughts again? Yes, yes he was. Oh right, there's a Ghost about to make him minced meat any second now. Better get back to that. He slid on his knees matrix-style below the blades, which barely missed his head. He inched closer to the Ghost, and right as it swiped with a chainsaw-arm, he dropped down onto his back and flipped backwards, setting up space between the two of them again, and let out a barrage of glancing blows in front of the Ghost with his whips, sending shockwave after shockwave out, drawing its attention towards Cravat even more.

"**You people will never stop me from getting my revenge!**" The Ghost suddenly shouted while trying to stay steady from the shockwaves. The Ghost jumped into the air after Cravat, who tried to restrain the Ghost with his whips. The whips tightened around it, but were quickly shredded into bits as the blades started to rapidly spin again, freeing itself. Cravat cursed under his breath when the Ghost grabbed his leg, throwing him viciously towards the two girls who were to take the Ghost from behind, no innuendo intended. Well, not entirely. "**Trees will never love you! You do everything for them, you protect them and what do they do? THEY BETRAY YOU!"** It shouted with conviction as it landed back on the ground. "**DO YOU WANT TO HEAR HOW I BECAME A GHOST SUCH AS THIS?" **it asked suddenly, directing its question to Cravat as he helped the two girls up from their little pileup.

"Well, no not really-"

"**Very well then! I shall satiate… your curiosity!**"

"**What's with the bold letters?**" Habit shouted playfully. Stocking and Cravat gave her a stare, the words 'Please don't encourage it' ever so decipherable from their expressions.

"**FOR EMPHASIS!**"

"Never would have guessed," Stocking sarcastically whispered to herself as she brushed off some dust that had gotten onto her dress. She noticed someone waving to her in the crowd that had gathered behind them. She nudged Cravat on the shoulder to cover her while she left, and he stepped ever so slightly to the side, blocking the Ghost's view of Stocking. Not that it mattered, it was pretty caught up in that little speech.

"**Now then! I was a member of a company called Organization for Mass Greenerization, or O.M.G. for short, it was kind of like Green-Peace**-"

"_Kind of?_" Cravat butted in.

"**YES! KIND OF! ANYWAY, I WAS ONE OF THE MORE OUTSPOKEN AND DEDICATED OF THE GROUP AND LOVED TELLING STORIES**-"

"I sincerely hadn't noticed," Cravat interrupted again. The Ghost was losing its patience, and a little orb in the middle of its chest started to poke out. 'That better be its weak spot,' Cravat thought to himself, 'I'm starting to get a migraine'. Cravat began to stretch his arms upwards, as if signaling someone, but then quickly brought them back down. "I'm sorry, do continue."

"**LET'S JUST SKIP TO ME TURNING INTO A GHOST**" it shouted, the orb on its chest starting to recede a little. Cravat just hoped she could pull it off wherever she was. 'Knowing her though, I bet she could,' he thought to himself, finding it absurd to even doubt her skill. "**So I've been taking care of this giant tree for a while, the usual thing, watering it every day, sprucing up its branches, offering it squirrel sacrifices for lunch every Thursday**-"

"Those poor squirrels! Why?" Habit suddenly asked, waving her arms in the air like a maniac, doing an upright capital D plus colon face, and not the happy kind.

"**IT'S A THING I DID. Anyway, it was two weeks ago, just after New Year's eve and after witnessing a brawl with some crazy-ass cosplay characters in the city,**" Cravat could not help but, what was the term? Ah yes, _L.O.L._, but on the inside, when he heard that comment. He still had that bruise near his ribs. "**I went back to my tree-friend to see if it was okay, then this drunkard suddenly comes up to me and tries to mug me!**"

"Okay hold up. Was your tree near a church-looking building near a cliff…?" Cravat asked.

"**Yes, yes it was. Why?**"

"Oh no reason, no reason," Cravat said, scratching the back of his head. 'Wow, that's… interesting. Was it one of drunks who got it on with Panty and Stocking…?' he pondered for a bit, then dismissed the idea for now. "Go on, do continue."

"***Ahem*, now where was I? Ah yes, guy tries to mug me. So what do I do next? I TAKE A CHAINSAW AND HACK THE TREE IN HALF AND SHOUT 'Go! Defend your master!**" the Ghost started to recreate the scene with over-the-top gestures and such. Cravat found the coincidental aspects of the entire thing to be amusing, but other than that he was just standing there and listening to buy some time. Habit was busy poking the ground with a stick and making pictures of butterflies, cookies, and breasts for some reason, with the word 'envy' underlined on the side, doing a pouty face while looking at it. "**Anyway, point being, despite all the care and affection I showed it that damn tree fell on me and reduced me to a pile of mangled body-parts.**"

"Is this going anywhere…?" Cravat asked after a yawn, obviously not really paying attention to the story any more. The Ghost let out what Cravat could say was a smirk across the jagged lines on its face that was probably its mouth.

"**So I planned my revenge on trees everywhere in those few seconds I had left before I kicked the bucket, and turned into this… this mass of tree-cutting technology. So I said to myself, 'might as well play the part well'. Ironic, seeing as I love trees and stuff like that,**" the Ghost deployed its array of deadly tree-cutting materials. "**So I went on a freaking rampage for a week after I had carefully planned out my course of action…**" the Ghost started to trail off for some reason, looking off into the distance as if searching for some meaning to all of it. Wow, that was deep. Sort of.

"Oh so _you're _the reason those parks went bald? I thought Global Warming was acting up again... well, considering it's winter right now but hey, stranger things have happened," Cravat sarcastically stated, already feeling bored and looking at his pocket-watch every now and then. Then the Ghost lowered its weapons, its blades ceasing to spin and the orb in its chest revealing itself more. Cravat readied himself for some sort of attack, but nothing happened. It merely stood there.

"**But honestly? I'm tired of all this,**" the Ghost suddenly started, sighing. "**I loved trees and all that. I shouldn't be killing them. It wasn't that tree's fault that it crushed me. It was just the way it was I guess,**" it continued in a dramatic tone of voice, with little sparkly and drama-esque sound effects emanating from the background. Where'd that come from? 'Huh, did I eat something or am I hearing regret from a Ghost right now?' Cravat thought to himself."**Gravity and inertia and the angle I cut it in and all, it was its nature to be that way, perhaps."**

"Uh… Okay…?" Cravat said with raised eyebrows, a little puzzled. Cravat started to pinch himself, making sure it wasn't another one of those hallucinatory dreams. Nope, this was real.

"**I wanted to live a life that wasn't mine. But sometimes you can't live that way. You're lucky you can.**" The Ghost said, directing it at Cravat. He felt a slight chill in the air.

"Say what now?" he asked, a little unnerved by the comment.

"**Just tell your sniper friend to shoot me already.**"

"Huh, you knew about that?"

"**Boy, that bright red jacket in the middle of all that white snow on top of a building tends to blow your cover, wouldn't you say?**" it said, and Cravat noticed a little red dot on the building behind them.

"It makes a good point, Ravvy," Habit commented, seeing the red dot as well.

"No more resistance from you then?" Cravat asked. The Ghost just nodded in reply. He raised his arm, signaling Panty in the distance. Stocking let Panty borrow her underwear so she could utilize a stronger form of it. Weaponized undergarments. The hope of the future. "By the way, before you kick the bucket a second time, what was that you were saying about me?"

"**I find your predicament interesting. Don't you?**"

"I seriously have no idea what you're talking about," Cravat replied as he dropped his arm, letting Panty know to take the shot. In a flash, the orb in the Ghost's chest was pierced by a holy, high-velocity 7.62x54mm round from Panty's Sniper Rifle. The Ghost smirked and let out one last war cry.

"**IGNORANCE IS BLISS!**"

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

"Four Heavens. Is it just me or are Ghosts getting smarter _and_ stronger these days?" Cravat said as he handed the coins to Panty and Stocking. The crowd watching started to disperse eventually, going to wherever it is they were going to before being distracted by the sight of a bunch of Angels plus a nun fighting a Ghost in broad daylight on the street. Just another sight to see when you live in Daten City. Oh hey, that rhymed. "Some of them seem to be retaining their sanity after turning into one."

"It happens. Same sappy-ass crap you hear in a game or on T.V., if the person that got turned has enough willpower to be in control, blah blah blah. Cheesy, but it's true. That means more Heavens for us though, since those are the ones that are actually worthwhile to kill," Stocking said as the bells from the church tolled in the distance. It reminded them of the school bell, which hadn't rung yet, thankfully. Hard to believe they were all doing this during lunch-break. Not that Panty or Stocking attended the classes anyway.

"Ghosts are Ghosts. One shows up, we kill it. They get stronger, we get stronger. That's all there is to it," Panty said, rubbing the sleeves on her dark red jacket.

"Says the girl who got spotted by her target," Stocking said teasingly. Panty slugged her sister on the arm, who let out a small laugh after exclaiming an obviously fake 'ow'.

"Yeah well what's done is done," the blonde replied. She let out a small sneeze, much to the amusement of the group. "Winter's still winter too. I'm freezing my ass off," Cravat looked at his wrist-watch this time. Yes, he had a wrist-watch and a pocket-watch. Any questions?

They still had about fifteen minutes of lunch break left, but they were at least a few minutes walking distance away from campus. "We should be heading back. Some of us here actually _try_ to be covert," Cravat called over his shoulder. He was already starting to head back, Habit following closely behind. She looked at the expression on his face when she caught up. He was still a little bothered by the Ghost's words.

"It was just trying to get into your head. Those things do that sometimes," the small red-head told him, trying to convince her partner to not think too deeply on the matter. "Remember that one Ghost last year? Almost convinced you that you were a Demon."

"Huh, I don't remember that," he said, a little puzzled.

"Well, it was a long time ago. Just don't dwell on it anymore," she said reassuringly.

"Alright alright. I doubt a Demon can infiltrate Angel ranks anyway."

"That's the spirit!" Their group started to walk back. Just another day of doing their job.

Once they did arrive back at Daten High, the Anarchy sisters once again went off to loiter and cut classes. It was for 'reconnaissance', they always claimed. They were just bored of school, Cravat always thought. Well, who could blame them? It did get pretty mundane sometimes, and he's only been attending for about a month, counting the two weeks before Christmas break last December and the two weeks after the break ended. He always wondered of the significance the lessons they were having on his actual life as an Angel. Where's 'x'? He would always think 'It's right there' before encircling it and making a giant pointy arrow. Of course, he had to erase it and write the correct answer, unless he wanted to fail, which he supposedly shouldn't. But every now and then the questions they got were actually relevant to his life. How can frying pans be utilized in saving a kingdom, why is it that when you grab a boob you take-off in a blast of rainbows and have an adventure, if you were an apple, and the square root of death is equal to knife, then how annoying would an orange be, those kinds of questions. Now those he could understand.

Of course he had to learn things beside that. If he or Habit failed or flunked anything, the principal would call their 'father', in this case Garterbelt, to come to school for a little 'talk', and God knows what that man would do in a building full of young boys. They always shuddered at the thought. So it's good to have a tutor every once in a while to help out to prevent any… lawsuits. Habit didn't need one, and he only ever asked for help if he fell asleep during the last half of Philosophy. That's where Kneesocks comes in. Such a nice girl to tutor him every now and then, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something odd about her sometimes. It wasn't her unbridled affection for her sister, Scanty, who just came back from that trip she was talking about last December, that teeters on the edge of something incestuous, which he never questioned, or her dedication to the rules that one small anomaly in what she saw was lawful would result in a vicious word-bashing, nor was it that feeling he had when he dreamt of her when he fought that Firecracker Ghost, which he already got rid of, deeming it nothing more than the occasional infatuation everyone gets sometimes. Was it her horn? Maybe…

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

"Kneesocks, I've been meaning to ask," Cravat started. It was after-hours, and they were having a little study session in the library before they both headed home. "Kneesocks?" he called out again.

To his right sitting beside him, the light-blue haired girl was busy reading her notes, sitting cross legged. When she was intent on something she shut the entire world out. Cravat seized the moment to try something out. He ever so stealthily reached for the horn on Kneesocks' head and gave it a quick upward stroke with his finger, like trying to tickle someone's back. But the sound he heard was far from being tickled. When that sound left her lips he thought he would die in the next few seconds after she'd recovered. Her face was flushed even more than it usually is, and she fumbled to keep herself from falling off her chair as her back arced slightly, and she gripped tightly onto the table as if it were her lifeline. It all happened in a matter of moments, and lasted only for a second, but the impression was still there. Her gaze turned to Cravat, who had already used the swivel chair's wheels to good use and pushed himself at least three meters away from impending doom. Her eyes were a little blank, her breathing slowly became less ragged, and, regaining her composure, stood up and walked over to him. 'Uh-oh, she's coming... oh look a pun and an innuendo,' Cravat leaned back on his chair and raised his hands in front of him in self-defense. "Erm, I'm sorry?" he managed to let out.

She was still staring at him like a hawk, and then smacked him upside the head with her notebook. "You will not speak of what had just occurred to anyone. Do you understand?" She said, her face still a little flushed, clearly embarrassed. "_Do you understand?_" she exclaimed, trying to keep a commanding tone but at the same time it sounded like she was a little girl with a secret she wanted to keep from everyone else. With good reason, too.

'How the hell was I supposed to know that would happen anyway,' Cravat thought to himself. "Yes yes, I'm sorry I'm sorry, I won't tell anyone. I didn't know."

"You're forgiven this time. You can't be held at fault for something you did not have knowledge of beforehand, and I'm partly at fault since I did not warn you earlier. But as you can see, it isn't exactly something I can… bring up in a conversation."

"You don't say," Cravat jokingly said, trying to lighten the mood. Kneesocks had no intention of laughing the entire thing off though.

"The next time you try that again I will personally see that you receive the death penalty. Am I understood?" she said, finally regaining full composure. Her tone of voice was back, which Cravat found to be more tolerable than hearing her with… _that_ kind of tone. It was, to put it simply, too foreign a tone to be hearing from someone with a normally stern and straightforward attitude.

"Y-yes ma'am," he finally replied. Kneesocks turned around and sat back down on the table. Cravat rolled himself back as well, acting as if nothing happened. Over the next fifteen minutes the two shared nary more than small talk here and there, and a 'yes' or a 'no' when asking something. He started to think there was something else Kneesocks wasn't telling him. 'Ah well'.

"I think that will be all you would need for today," Kneesocks said, adjusting her glasses and standing up, collecting her belongings. "I'll be taking my leave then… Hm? Oh, sis? Sis!" she called out to someone. A girl in the Daten High uniform stood by the library entrance, looking like she was waiting for Kneesocks. She had long, wavy tea-green hair, which flowed all the way down past her waist until her thighs. Kneesocks said her goodbyes again to Cravat and almost skipped towards the girl she called out to. She looked very happy to see her.

"Huh, that must be her sister Scanty then…" Cravat said to himself. He got up and started to pack his belongings, heaving his messenger bag over his shoulder. He walked outside the library and saw the two sisters talking up a storm. A stark contrast to a certain pair of Angels, who were at each others' throats three out of five times a day. At the corner of his eye, he saw two red bumps poking out of Scanty's wavy hair near her head. Cravat could only guess that those were her own set of horns. Come to think of it, why _did_ the two of them have horns? 'Unless…' he pondered on an idea that had entered his head. 'Naaaah,' he dismissed it without a second thought. Habit met up with him in the parking lot clad her specially made nun's uniform that was lined with insulation on the inside. "Where's the other two?"

"They said they'd be here to pick me up soon. By the way, what are you going to do about your weapons?" Habit asked, blowing into her hands to warm them up a bit.

"What about them?"

"Well, it's going to take a while before your originals get repaired. Didn't you bring along your backup ones from Little Tokyo?" she asked.

"I have back-up weapons?" Cravat blinked, not realizing that he could have been using more than two whips per battle, one in each foot and one in his mouth. Yes, he was being sarcastic.

"You always forget these sort of things don't you? Every Angel has backup weaponry, in case your current ones break or something. You used to break your whips often the first time you came here," Habit said jokingly, before letting out a small sneeze. Cravat was scratching his head. He didn't even know he had a weapon stash, nor does he even recall breaking his whips ever. He's taken good care of them for as long as he could remember. "They're probably still there. Our little hovel's been locked ever since we moved out."

"And how am I supposed to get in-" Before Cravat even finished his sentence, Habit was already dangling what looked like those old fashioned skeleton keys. Cravat took them without further arguments.

"You can be back by dinner if you're quick. Don't get lost, and _please_ don't cause any accidents. We barely got out with being framed for that little highway pileup you and Panty caused last week." She said as they walked towards Lash-Out.

"Yes, mother." He jokingly said as he got on his bike. She pouted, trying to be intimidating. It was failing pretty badly, since he was trying to stifle a laugh. "Don't want to come with? It could be nostalgic y'know."

"With you at the wheel? It'll be as nostalgic as it is traumatizing for me. Now go on, I think Garter's cooking pasta tonight," she called out as she went to wait for Panty and Stocking. All that was in Cravat's head right now was how good that Pasta was going to taste.

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

"Ooooh, here they are," he whispered to himself as he rummaged through the dresser. A bunch of clones of his pseudo-neckties, all neatly folded and seemingly untouched. No wonder he couldn't find them. They were in Habit's unmentionables drawer, and he never dared look there for anything. But if they were so important, why would Habit not tell him before they moved? "No use blowing my mind over it now."

Cravat sent the box through a portal, same one he tried to sneak through before. He knew better than to touch it now. Cravat went out the front door and locked the entire place down again, but a noise just behind him threw him into an alerted state, readying his newly acquired weapons. He spun around and was about to strike, when he saw the frame of a large, well-built man carrying a giant oar.

"Old-man Epik?" Cravat asked out loud. The man seemed to recognize him, and squinted, before putting on his glasses.

"Oh, it's just you, kid. How many times have I told you to stop calling me old man?" Epik asked, stabbing the oar a few feet into the ground. Now he was one human Cravat did _not_ want to pick a fight with.

"I'll stop when you stop calling me kid," Cravat said, laughing a bit.

"Fair enough. So, what brings you back here?" Epik asked. As Epik accompanied him back to Lash-Out, Cravat explained what had happened over the past month after they'd left, keeping the details about unimportant things like Panty's sexual addiction to a minimum. He didn't need to subject someone else to mental scarring. "Sounds like you've had quite a New Year… Not bad for some foreigner who's been here for half a year."

That statement piqued Cravat's interest. "Half a year? I think your memory really _is_ going old-man, I've only been here for three months." He said. A moment of silence followed, until Epik decided to speak up again.

"I think it's _your_ memory that's going kid, I'm pretty sure you arrived here sometime around June," Epik insisted. Cravat scratched the back of his head. 'The cold must be getting to his brain,' Cravat thought. "By the way, how's Habit? You been good to her?" Epik said, changing the topic.

"Well, yeah, of course I am."

"Good to hear that. You know, she told me never to mention it again, but you were a real prick to her first time you came here. She was even afraid of you at one point, went over to my place to tell my wife about it whenever you left," Epik said, as if reminiscing the past. 'Okay, someone's been smoking I have no idea what,' Cravat thought to himself. "Good to see you've turned over a new leaf. I couldn't believe it at first either, but you sure proved me wrong."

"Oh…Okay, then…?" Maybe he'd been drinking. That was probably it. First that Ghost and now this. "Have you been drinking lately old-man?"

"A few bottles of Tequilla, and some caramelized pork rinds dipped in the stuff, but who's counting?*hic*" Epik bellowed. Well that explains things. Been drinking his ass off silly again.

"Keep off the the alcoholics, Epik. It might do wonders for your liver," Cravat joked, a little relieved now that it was all just the ramblings of a drunken man who owned a well known restaurant in Little Tokyo, Legendary Banquet Epoch.

"Bah, that's what my wife always tells me," Epik muttered. "Well I shouldn't keep you. You should probably be getting back to Datsin… Datsen… something or whatever."

"Nice talking to you old-man."

"You too, m'boy. Glad you're not a complete and utter asshole anymore, *hic*," with that, Cravat revved Lash-Out up and headed back home. The cold was pretty nice right now actually, cleared his head a little. Then he thought back to where he was six months ago. Probably still in Heaven, before being sent on a mission down here in Earth. He thought of those days in his head, just waiting to see what images would flow back. But then that was just it. Whenever he thought about six, five, even four months back, nothing happened. Earliest he could remember was the first week of October, discovering the internet, taking Habit on supermarket trips, though she was a little reluctant to come along at first, and his first Ghost hunt at the end of that week, where Habit had saved him. Whenever he thought of something further before that, he got nothing. Not even blurry visions or slight recall of what had happened. There was nothing there.

Just one big white blank.

_**Author's Notes: I'm baaaaaaack, haha. I started this chapter on Tuesday, finished it this Thursday afternoon. Yay for inspiration o3o. Hope you guys enjoy this one. YAY FORESHADOWING. And if you think that you know what the big twist is, think again. I've got one confusingly hopefully satisfactory ending in mind. Hope you guys stick around for it **__**^_^**_


	8. Chapter 8 Starting Something

**Chapter 8 – Starting Something**

He must've been over-reacting. Maybe the memory loss was because of some sort of crazy atmospheric re-entry-esque magic that happened when he was sent to Earth. The night sky was lit up by the city lights, and everything around him seemed to blur past as he just thought to himself what he would do. He tried to reach into his head, grab a hold of even a fragment of what had been left there. He could feel some sort of blockade preventing him from accessing anything that was longer than four months ago. What was it? What did his mind not want him to see, to remember?

'Holy shit,' Cravat thought to himself, as if maybe realizing something. 'Don't tell me I've got some dark past that I'd rather keep forgotten. That's so damn cliché…' Upon reflecting on it a little, he laughed maniacally in his head. 'I crack myself up sometimes.'

'Your past is your past. It's going to bite you in the ass eventually.'

'Oh whatever,' He was sure it wasn't a deep dark past. Come to think of it, if he can't remember six months ago, what about a year ago? Two years ago? He searched his memory for anything that would tell him what he'd done even before he'd gotten to Earth, but nothing came up. One big blank yet again. Okay maybe he was just tired. Get some sleep and maybe the memories would come pouring back. That's it. He couldn't even remember what he was doing in Little Tokyo, so that may be normal. Oh right, his backup weapons. Dammit. Well that seemed to have come back to him fairly easily. Should he talk to Habit about this? Maybe he should. She's got better memory than him by far. Lash-Out slowly went along the highway as traffic got worse and worse. Eventually he finally got fed up with it.

'Screw the rules, I'm an Angel,' he revved Lash-Out and jumped over multiple cars and trucks, skidding across their roofs and in turn their drivers shouting and cursing at him. But their insults were all drowned out by his troubled thoughts. 'Hell, should I even worry about it? Maybe I shouldn't. I've got what I've got, shouldn't try to revisit the past. No way in hell am I going to be like one of those generic amnesiac protagonists who try to find their past and save the world. Fuck no. Oh I know, maybe I'm a Demon!'

'That's just stupid.'

'Fat chance, right?' After a few shortcuts through supermarkets and housetop roof-hopping, Cravat eventually found himself in the underground parking lot beneath the church. Parking Lash-Out next to See-Through, he walked up the flight of stairs, finding the door leading to the dining room. The others were already seated in their usual arrangement, and he took his seat beside Habit, across from Stocking. The sight of the food made him forget a little, if not entirely, about his little dilemma. Various pastas and pastries for desert were lined up on the table, awaiting consumption.

"Pasta, pasta everywhere~" Cravat chanted happily as he filled his plate with Puttanesca. How the heck did a Reverend even end up cooking? Garter must've been bored, Cravat thought to himself. How old was he? Forty, maybe fifty something? Maybe it was a mid-life crisis thing. Learning to cook. Cravat wanted to learn how to cook too actually, besides baking, which he could do… _relatively._ Cancerous blocks of brown and black have graced their household a few times over the past months.

"By the way Habit, guess who I ran into."

"Hm? Where, back in Little Tokyo?" she asked, stopping herself from stuffing a few muffins down her throat. Cravat nodded, swallowing a ball of pasta he had rolled onto his fork.

"Old man Epik," he said haphazardly, almost choking on his food. Cravat chugged down a glass of water to clear his throat when he saw Habit's got wider and she became fidgety. 'Oh dear god, honestly? This does nothing to help me forgetting what the old man said,' Cravat thought.

"Something wrong Habit?" Cravat asked unsurely.

"Buwah-!" she coughed, gulping down a glass of milk, "Urgh… Muffin got stuck in my throat, sorry," Cravat raised his eyebrows a little. '… well I seem to be a little paranoid,' he thought. Habit took another big gulp before turning to face him. "So how's Mr. Epik doing? Still getting drunk?"

"Yeah, same old same old. His memory's going, too."

"Why would you say that?" Habit asked as she took serving of Carbonara onto her plate.

"He thinks I've been here for half a year."

"That's silly. He's just being a drunkard. Are you going to finish that?" Habit asked when she spied a stray rolled cookie in the shape of a flower on Cravat's plate. He motioned for her to take it, and she squeaked in delight. After dinner they all went up to their rooms, saying their goodnights to each other and parting ways in the hallway. It was Stocking and Cravat's turn to use the upstairs bathroom. Cravat let stocking go first to freshen up and change or whatever, and went back to their room for the moment. He lied back down on his bed and looked at the ceiling, trying to forget the ramblings of that drunken master chef. At the corner of his eye he spied Stocking's engagement ring. It wasn't one of the prettiest looking trinkets, but it held value that greatly exceeded anything else for her. He had to admit, that Ghost had the guts he would never posses, and he had to respect it for it. Not all Ghosts are to be hated, he guessed.

"I see she's kept it till now…" he said to himself quietly. "How do you top an engagement ring…? Answer, you don't," Cravat laughed. He rolled around on his bed then proceeded to turn his attention to the television he transferred from the living room to Stocking's, with her permission. He was too lazy to walk down a flight of stairs just to use it, so he had to beg her to let him relocate it to her room. He flipped through channel upon channel, skimming through Animal World's mating lions to that guy who fishes marine life twice his size out of the water for fun, then he ended up on some channel playing a rerun of last year's spring break at some beach, people streaking everywhere, a woman literally waltzing up to the camera man and flashing.

"… I swear if someone did that to me I'd die of blood loss," after about ten seconds of flipping through more channels, he decided to hook his console up and see if he could beat the last level of Kalamity 2 on Bat-Shit Insane. As he began hooking his equipment up, he heard the door to their room open behind him. Probably Stocking. He didn't look up from the cables he was holding when he heard her approach, trying to find the right cable to plug into the right socket. The footsteps stopped just behind him, then he could barely make out her shadow behind him as he tried to find the other set of cables he needed.

"I always forget my towel on the bed…" sounded Stocking's voice. A few droplets of water hit his head before her shadow moved away and he heard the sound of the door opening and closing again. He finally connected the cables to the television and sat down on his bed, readying for the title screen to come up. The droplets of water slowly dripped down his forehead, which he only noticed now. It smelled kind of like that soap Stocking forbade him to use.

"Huh, she must've taken a bath," Cravat thought, skimming through his save files. "Smells nice…. Kind of careless for her to leave her towel then just come waltzing in here naked with me in the room though…" there was a slight pause in his thought process.

"… Wait what?"

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

January came and went as fast as a virgin did when they were on Panty… or below her… or all around her. Everything's applicable actually. February came, and Panty stifled a laugh at the innuendo. It was still snowing and cold, but not as much as it was during the earlier month. Eventually Cravat stopped thinking about that little conspiracy theory eventually, with much coaxing from Habit, who promises he got here when he did. The memories also slowly came back, interestingly a little fuzzy but there nonetheless. He'd been watching the Earth from way up high for as long as he could remember, since time shifted differently up there and down here. Eventually he was sent down to exterminate some stray Ghosts who Panty and Stocking couldn't get to as they were too busy with Daten City's own spectral inhabitants. Then he met Habit, found out he wasn't that up to snuff to fighting Ghosts, and the rest was history… At least he'd like to believe that. For some reason, those memories don't seem like they were his.

'They are. Get over it. Your life's been pretty dull until you got to Earth. No use bitching about it now.'

'I guess…' Cravat thought. Now there was something a little more confusing than having your memories disappear then come back to you. They were already into the third week of February with nothing much happening, no Ghosts, no emergencies, no Panty waking up in the middle of the night because she got horny again and demanding her exhausted partners to wake up, no Stocking trying to go on a midnight snack run. It was all relatively quiet at home, but at school, everyone seemed to be bustling over something, and it was only a Monday. Hearts, hearts everywhere!

"February… 14th… Valen-whatnow?" he squinted as he tried to read a banner. Valentines! Right, that tradition thing every year that humans have. Sort of like this proclamation of infatuation to another person. Cravat thought a little as he walked down the hall, stuffing his gloved hands in his coat pockets. "Is it mandatory to do something like this?"

"It's a rule to have an event on the fourteenth of February. School policy," Called out a voice. Ah, that stern yet gentle voice of which words that nothing but something associated with rules and regulations came out of. Her light-blue hair and pony-tail swishing from side to side as she walked to stop in front of him, dressed in her fuzzy coat.

"Good morning Kays."

"You seem complacent to call me by that pet name," she said, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Well you let me," he started. About a week ago Cravat was rambling to himself about kill-stealers on some MMO he played. Then he abbreviated it, becoming K.S., and noticed it could also stand for Kneesocks. Lo and behold, he started calling her Kays, much to her, quote unquote, 'displeasure'. Quote unquote because she seemed annoyed by it, but never really stopped him from continuing to call her by that name. "Would you want me to stop?"

"As I've said before, it matters not how you address me, just as long as you still respect my authority," Kneesocks said sternly. Cravat paused for a moment. He'd heard that before somewhere.

"Do you watch South Park?" he asked, rather cautiously. She raised one eyebrow at him when she answered.

"Yes, so what?"

"Er, nothing…" he said, shaking his head. 'Subconsciously repeating a line from a show… never thought she'd be the type,' Cravat thought. They both started to walk down the corridors of the school which had been decorated by pink banners and little hearts everywhere. He swore one of the banners had phallic imagery on it, but pitied the one who would be 'punished' by Kneesocks, or her sister. Left and right people were giving each other chocolates and going googly eyes on each other, to which Kneesocks scattered them with a megaphone and they all went to their classes for the day.

Eventually it was lunch time, and of course Panty and Stocking wouldn't know because they were never here, but hey. Cravat caught up with Brief in the hallway. He and Cravat became friends fast over the months, and along with Habit, the three of them became known as the Geek, the Nun, and the Otaku. Of course anyone who tried to mess with them met a knee to the gut by Cravat swift kick to the balls by Habit or, if it was a woman, a quick slap and an insult of how fat they were. It suddenly came up in Cravat's mind if the two Anarchy sisters had ever actually gone to single class.

"Have Panty and Stocking ever gone to school, like, ever?" he asked as they walked to the cafeteria.

"Well, they're here every morning, but never during school itself… Well the first time I remember was when the Cheerleader Ghost was here… It was the first time I met Panty…" Brief trailed off, looking like he was daydreaming. Cravat flicked his arm.

"Focus, lover boy."

"Right right, sorry…" Brief regained his composure. "Now where was I? Oh yeah, that cheerleader ghost, yeah first day they were here… There was also that marathon run the entire school did in their underwear," Brief said nonchalantly. Cravat game him a look that said 'Do I want to know or…?' "Although that wasn't during school hours either… Don't ask," Brief explained. Cravat merely nodded as they got their food and sat down at a table. Habit was probably off doing some extra reading in the library, so they just went on eating without her. "I think that's it… a shame too, they were named Queens of the school, and I think the title's going to someone else soon. Oh by the way, did you know when you and Habit came along with them here that was the second time they punched a hole in the corridor?"

"Huh, that makes more sense than me thinking that other hole in the hallway was a skylight or something…" Cravat paused and looked around. He saw all those students with those chocolates again. There was a stall near the main food-stands, selling chocolate hearts, chocolate truffles, chocolate geckos, chocolate crickets, anything, really. All the other students were buying a whole bunch, giving it to each other, feeding it to each other, licking it off… oh dear god, in public? He averted his gaze from that little mind scarring patch in his line of sight and saw Kneesocks sitting with her sister in the corner, then, scanning around more, was Panty coming out of the men's bathroom looking rather smug. Well now he knows another place to never walk in to. Then he remembered Stocking. 'She likes sweets… I wonder if the chocolate they're selling are any good…' he thought to himself. "I'll be right back Brief," Brief motioned for him to go ahead, going back to eating his mystery Monday meat.

Cravat went up to the stand and bought five miniature -sized boxes of chocolate, two for the Anarchy sisters, two for Kneesocks and her sister, and one for of course, Habit. 'It's a good thing I get a stipend from helping Garter with household work… although I get this odd feeling he's watching me a little too closely…' Cravat cringed at the thought. "This is going to be a liiiittle awkward," he whispered to himself. He went up to Kneesocks and her sister, Scanty, if he remembered correctly, and nonchalantly tossed them the chocolate, which they caught without a second thought. Kneesocks looked at him a little puzzled. "Might as well right? It's a _rrruuurrru._" He laughed, but somehow he could feel the entire cafeteria staring at him. Kneesocks gulped down a bit of milk she'd bought for lunch and turned to him.

"Thank you, I guess," she said, indifference plastered on her face.

'Well that went well,' Cravat thought to himself.

"I also must thank you, Cravat was it?" Kneesocks' sister spoke. He merely nodded. "My name is Scanty. I don't think we've met properly yet." She smiled, a little fang protruding upward showing itself, making her look slightly mischievous.

'Somehow she reminds me a little of Panty…' "Don't mention it, um, Ms. Scanty."

"Drop the Ms., you all my sister by her name don't you?" Scanty said, raising an eyebrow, her mouth in a half-way smirk. Yep, awkwaaaaard.

"Er, alright, 'Scanty'," Cravat said, still a little unsure. Scanty just gave him another smile before going back to eating her food. He said his goodbyes to Kneesocks, who stopped him before he left.

"You're going to have to wear the entire uniform set I gave you last December, new policy starts tomorrow," she told him. Oh right, they gave a letter on that during the morning sessions. Well basically the only thing he'd change were his pants, since she gave him everything already… there's an innuendo in there somewhere, he just knew it. Lunch break eventually ended, and after that, the entire school-day.

Along with the Anarchy Sisters, and Habit, they all headed back to the church. When they got home Cravat was about to give them their chocolates, but he noticed Stocking go to See-Through's trunk, struggling to open it. Another heave, and amusingly, another bounce of her ample chest later, the trunk popped open and the garage was flooded with a multitude of different boxes of chocolates, candies, cookies, hearts, crickets, cards, what have you. Cravat struggled with a box of foreign chocolate that weighed as much as him as he heaved it off himself. He dusted himself off, seeing the girls already hauling as much as they could carry up the stairs. "Were these all gifts?" Cravat asked. Stocking peeked around the towering boxes in her arms.

"Well yeah, most of them. Came from the guys who wanted to get into Panty's… well, panties."

"I… I see…" Cravat sighed, and helped them haul the entire load upstairs, jamming it into every nook and cranny of the fridge. The ones that didn't fit, Stocking carved a make-shift Icebox out of a tree she found a little ways off from the church, and she crammed the snow on their front porch inside it, along with the leftover chocolates and candies.

"Can't let good sweets go to waste now can we?" Stocking said triumphantly. She'd carved one tree into three fridge-sized boxes, laying them beside one another on the porch outside, where it was still cold. "Is that all of them?" she asked. Panty and Habit nodded, creaking their backs and stretching their arms. Cravat however let out an indistinct sound.

"Well, erm…" he started, obviously now reluctant to give them something so meager in comparison to what they all just received. Three small, red boxes, a gold ribbon on each, same as the one he gave to Kneesocks and Scanty, were in his hands, him reaching them out to the three girls. "Sorry, it was all I could afford… looks like you don't need it anyway," Cravat laughed a bit. The girls blinked, before Habit came up to him first.

"Aw Ravvy, thanks," Habit said, taking one box and heading for the dining room. Panty went up to him, a little cautious about taking one.

"These things might make me gain weight," she said, her tone a little annoyed. Cravat handed her a box.

"I got you a Dark Chocolate one. Less fat, or so I've heard," he said, looking rather smug about it. "By the way, just so you know I'm never using the cafeteria bathroom ever again because of you."

"Aw, you don't want to smell my essence mixed with the musk of boys you probably know-"

"No thank you," Cravat cut her off, having a sarcastic smile on his face.

"Suit yourself, Otaku boy," she said playfully. Panty took the box of chocolate and opened it. Sure enough, a few pieces of differently designed but noticeably dark chocolate were inside. "Thanks," Panty said, making her way to get some dinner to eat. Stocking went up to him last and took the box right out of his hands.

"Why didn't you give us these a while ago?" she asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Well… I don't know exactly. I was sure that they weren't as good as the ones you guys got, maybe?" he said, scratching the back of his head. "It looked like you would be sick of all the chocolate."

"You can never have too much sweets. Plus, it does my body good," Stocking joked, crossing her arms over her chest for emphasis.

"So I see, Ms. Chesticles," he teased. Stocking raised an eyebrow.

"Always a dork, aren't you?"

"Yep, never gonna change," Cravat laughed. The two of them headed for dinner, but were cut off by Panty and Habit, who looked like they had some news. "What's up?" he asked.

"Garter says he got a report on some ghosts having some sort of mass-invasion, and it's starting from inside Daten High," Habit started, looking a little worried. "So he wants you all to go and take a look tonight. The appearances only happen when the students aren't around."

"But I'm hungry…" Cravat whined. Habit shoved a doggy-bag in his face.

"Eat on your way there, Garter told me to stay and help clean the dishes."

"Oh you get to stay here and eat in peace and quiet while we get to risk our lives?" Cravat sarcastically asked. Then it hit him. He liked that idea. He hadn't seen action in a while, and this was the time to get a few of those gears rolling again. "On second thought, I'm fine with that idea. I don't want to be babied by you all the time."

"That's a good Ravvy. Now go on, go and kill some Ghosts," she said like a mother coaxing her child. As the three Angels walked down the stairs, Panty let out a loud swear that echoed in the quiet Garage space.

"Fucking Afro-Priest, could've told us sooner before we got here," she said, her face in her usual scowl.

"Look on the bright side, more heavens to be had," Cravat said, trying to play to Panty's want to get back to Heaven again. She smiled a little, looking at him. Cravat had no trouble admitting Panty was pretty gorgeous, but when she genuinely smiles, she looked like a girl who could melt your heart. Of course, given the fact that he knew what she did whenever no one was looking… actually it didn't even matter if someone was looking, she'd still do it anyway, he's immune to her… would you call it 'innocent' side? Nothing about her was, but hey, if it had to be given a name, that would be it. Brief though, wow was that guy in love. He could sympathize a little though, he admitted that much.

"I know you're just trying to cheer me up. Thanks," she said, nudging him on the arm. "I've been rearing to go and blow some steam off. The guys at school have no idea what they're doing it's frustrating," she laughed. Well, there goes the innocent side of her, Cravat mused. When they got to the parking, Stocking tapped him on the shoulder.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Can I try riding with you on the bike? Looks like fun," she replied, having a big grin on her face. Cravat blinked once.

"I don't see why not, hop on," he told her. Stocking gave Panty a signal, and the blonde understood. Stocking hopped on behind Cravat, who had already started to rev Lash-Out, and she clasped her arms around his body, her chest pressing into his back.

"Feeling awkward?" She asked in a sly tone. Cravat just laughed.

"Oh please, now I have cushions. It's like an upgrade, if anything," he said, dismissing the thought. 'Huh, there's that smell again,' he thought remembering what happened a few weeks ago. 'I have to admit… this is nice.'

The three of them stormed out of the church's underground, zipping through the highway breakneck speeds. Traffic was already dispersing as the night continued on. They reached Daten High faster than they normally would, and they parked their vehicles outside. They got off, and went for the front doors immediately. It was pretty dark, and Cravat had to squint to keep track of the big blue bow on the back of Stocking's head so he wouldn't get lost. Once they got to the entrance, he already felt a chill in the air.

"You guys feel that?" he asked. The two girls nodded, and he went for the door. "Be ready for anything," Immediately after opening the door, the total black darkness of the corridor lay before them. They walked inside, their footsteps echoing in the empty halls, giving the atmosphere an even more ominous feeling than there already was to it. Then he saw something. At the corner of his eye, it looked like fireflies, lighting up the hallway in the distance. "This way, I see something," he said, starting to pick up the pace, reaching for his weapons. When they stopped, there were about two, maybe three glowing orbs right in front of them. Cravat tried reaching out for one, when its light grew in intensity. Not only the one he reached out for, but the two others, and soon, more of the lights were lighting up from down the corridor to all around them. The light they gave off gave off showed them enough of their silhouettes to make out what they were. Humanoid shapes, blood red veins running all throughout, sinister orange eyes staring at them. They were Ghosts, by the hundreds, and they were slowly pouring through the corridors, making their way to them. Each Ghost carried a weapon or two, a sword, a hatchet, a shield, whatever, the point was there were hundreds of them. Cravat ripped his whips from his neck, materializing in his hands as he thrust both his whips to either side, penetrating ten Ghosts with each one as they extended outwards. Panty let out an amused whistle.

"Getting better, Otaku boy," she called out. The Ghosts disintegrated, but left nothing behind. No remnants, no Heavens, nothing. "What the fuck?" Panty said in frustration. "No Heavens?"

"Guys, I think that's the least of our concerns for now," Cravat said, noticing the Ghosts surrounding them even more as each moment passed. Panty looked at Stocking, who was a little annoyed by the fact there was a chance they wouldn't get paid for this. The two reluctantly readied themselves, and flashing lights came blazing out of nowhere.

"This again…" Cravat whispered to himself in amusement. You know how on T.V. the enemies never attack during a transformation sequence? Well yeah, that's bullshit. Cravat was holding them off while the two sisters did their thing. "Do you two honestly have to pole-dance right now? You can summon Backlace and Stripes instantaneously can't you?" he said over the loud music. Fly away now~ Fly Away now~ Fly awaaay~. Great, this tune is going to get stuck in his head again. The two finally stopped their little performance.

"It's more fun to do it that way. Plus, you got to see us pole-dance again, without needing to pay," Stocking said, skewering a few Ghosts on her sword. Panty repeatedly took down one after the other with precise headshots, but the crowd around them didn't seem to be dissipating.

"They're tenacious, I'll give em that, kind of like that guy in the bathroom this morning, would keep on trying to-" a Ghost almost nicked her in the head, swiping at her with an axe it was holding. "Oh never mind, I think it's a little too graphic."

After a few minutes of the assault, it seemed like the mob wouldn't dissipate. Once they cut one down two more took its place. Cliché, yes, but it was happening. They weren't that tough to beat, but the sheer numbers were making it tedious and tiring.

"This is going to take a while isn't it?" Stocking said, kicking a Ghost in the face and letting it fall into its comrades, after which she unleashed a barrage of slashes, turning them all into dust.

"I would think so," Cravat said, latching around a group of six of them and pulling hard on his whips, instantly decapitating them all. The three of them regrouped, back to back with each other, in the middle of a circle of Ghosts wanting to rip their throats out. The silence that ensued was deafening. But they all looked at each other and smirked, and Panty let out one loud battle cry.

"Let's give em a night they'll regret!" she shouted, a bullet ripping through the silence like hot knife through butter.

It was going to be a long night.

_**Author's Notes: You know I find it odd how I procrastinate so much, and yet can finish a chapter in less than one afternoon. I really wish I had more direction in life**_ **_** . _** Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you all again, hopefully sometime sooner XD**_


	9. Chapter 9 Ain't That a Shocker

**Chapter 9 – Ain't That a Shocker?**

11:03PM… it's been roughly an hour since this long and, actually, relatively easy fight began. The entire building seemed to be overridden with the little light-bulb headed bastards, and they cleared each section out slowly but surely. In all honesty it didn't take much to kill them. They seemed to lack the intelligence of the more recent Ghosts they'd fought. However, so far none of them dropped even a single Heaven, and it seemed like they weren't even half done. Cravat thought maybe at the end they would all culminate into one giant Ghost, and once they killed THAT, they would rolling in the cash. His imagination was probably just running wild again. That or he was hungry. A growl from his stomach answered his question.

"Panty, Stocking, think we can break through into the cafeteria? I'm starving." He asked, ducking beneath a razor-sharp sword that threatened to take his head off. Cravat swung both of his whips above his head, and he violently brought down both in an X, the highly-charged light-trails of the whips tearing cleanly through, ripping the Ghost into four, mutilated parts. He nonchalantly ran over to Stocking's side, sliding and jumping through the waves of enemies that wanted a piece of him. He thrust his whips forward, skewering three Ghosts just behind Stocking. He made a gesture and pointed to his stomach. "Pleaaaase, I'm really hungry," he begged, before violently decapitating another two Ghosts that were about to strike him at either side. His expression was unchanged, pouting and brows furrowed. It was amusing watching someone with that expression kill with such uninhibited ferocity. Stocking laughed a bit.

"Let's take the route to the cafeteria next. I'm dying for some sweets too," she called out, splattering another Ghost against the wall. Panty came walking up to them, shooting at the Ghosts that tried to take a swipe at her. One, two, three and they all toppled over, missing a limb, an entire section of their body, or when she hit them dead on, exploding into little pieces, splattering them everywhere.

"I think that's all here. You think there're more of these little fuckers around?" Panty asked, stretching her arms and back.

"Dunno, but right now I'm hungry. Time to raid the school pantry~" Cravat said in a singsong fashion.

"Did you just say time to raid Panty?" Stocking asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Oh she wishes," Cravat said over his shoulder sarcastically. Panty skipped in front of him.

"You mean you don't want some of _this_?" Panty said seductively, licking her lips and making gestures with her body. Cravat laughed. By now he was immune to that.

"I'm sure you're too much for me to handle," he said playfully.

"That's right, you can't handle this~" Panty cooed, facing away from him and giving her backside a light tap with her hand. "Many have tried, but they've all _come_ to know my skill. See what I did there?" Panty smirked, a sly expression on her face.

"Yes yes, an innuendo, can we move faster to the cafeteria now?" Stocking said, sounding a little irritated. There was a puff in her cheeks and a slight furrow in her brow. Panty immediately caught on. 'Oh ho ho ho,' the blonde thought, 'interesting development we have here.'

The silence that ensued on their way to the cafeteria was deafening, and somehow Cravat could sense… some sort of evil in the air. Not the Ghost kind of evil, but more of the… looming presence of doom… like a nimbus raincloud above his head, the lightning ready to strike at any moment. 'What's this feeling…' he wondered. Stocking overtook them, picking up the pace, rounding a corner and disappearing from sight. 'Huh, feeling's gone,' It took a few odd moments before he realized they'd reached the cafeteria already, with no Ghosts in sight. Without even minding blocking the entrances and exits, they went straight for the storage room. A few microwave sandwiches for Cravat and two gallons of ice cream for Stocking later, they had eaten their fill. Quite the timing too, as the Ghosts seemed to have honed in to their location, and they poured through the cafeteria doors.

"They come in droves and they still don't provide that much of a decent fight," Cravat said, swallowing the last slice of his sandwich. He readied his whips, waiting for Panty and Stocking to get their weapons up.

"I don't give a fuck if it was one or a million, all I care about is that we get a shit-load of Heavens after this," Panty said, stripping off her underwear right in front of them. Cravat gave off an amused whistle.

"Damn woman, you don't waste time," he said. Panty just replied with a wink, sticking out her tongue at him. He gave off one of those flirtatious purrs as Panty went on her merry way, shooting at anything and everything that moved. He hadn't realized it, but he began to develop this easy-going habit of flirting with them every now and then. He laughed at how much he'd changed since he'd been around the two Angels. Turning his head, he noticed Stocking looking at him with something fierce in her eyes. "What?"

"You're a fucking idiot," she said dryly, before dashing off. She engaged one Ghost after the other, hacking and severing anything and everything that came into her killing radius. Cravat blinked once.

'Well something's gotten into her,' he thought, feeling an oversized sweat droplet appear just above his head. He dashed for a few right in front of him, swinging his two Ghost Kiras in a wide arc to either side, and then he jumped over the cluster, tightening and increasing tension to his whips as the trails of light that the bladed tips lead wrapped tightly around. He landed behind his prey and gave his whips a fierce jerk, reducing his targets to a mangled pile of ectoplasmic mush that settled onto the floor.

"Fucking shit," he said to himself as more of them joined the fray, steadily and with mechanical movements, acting as one unit. He got the feeling these were foot soldiers of some sort of evil mastermind. Games were always like that, throw the generic weakling enemies out to the main characters as cannon fodder, then play the trump card once they've all been defeated.

That would be pretty awesome actually, but right now all wanted was to clear the school out and go home already. He hoped it wouldn't take long. If all goes well, it wouldn't, and they would have shitloads of cash at the end of it.

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

A hit and miss, is what he'd called it. It didn't take that long, maybe about four odd hours. Bah, who was he kidding, it took them a while. A whole night's worth of Ghost killing. Now he was pretty sure Panty would've wanted to be in bed at home or somewhere else doing the nasty with five or more men, but tonight they had a chance to rake in big amounts of Heavens. How many did they kill? A Hundred? Five-hundred? He really didn't keep track. Eventually they found themselves back in the corridors and out of the cafeteria. They just kept pouring out everywhere, each waking minute it seemed like at the end of it all they would be filthy stinking rich.

Unfortunately for them, wealth seemed to always elude their clutches.

"MOTHERFUCKING COCKSUCKING CUNT BITCH SON OF A BASTARD WHORE!" Panty spewed out like a machine-gun. She jammed one last bullet into the Ghost in front of her, taking its eye out and splattering what Cravat considered ectoplasmic brain smush all over the lockers. Cravat cautiously walked around the fuming blonde, taking care not to trip over the innards of a lot of Ghosts she had generously mutilated. "Easy job my sweet little ass," Cravat subconsciously let out an amused snicker. Panty scowled with her eyes narrowed at him. As fast as a quickshot, he stopped. "It's three-fucking-A.M., and what do we have? Nothing abso-fucking-lutely nothing, that's what!" An entire night and the little bastards didn't leave anything behind for them. Panty and Stocking were pretty ticked by it.

"I find no point in going to school anymore. Fucking useless," Stocking said in annoyance. She walked towards her sister, who'd found some entertainment in kicking the light-bulbs the 'Ghosts' had for heads around, smashing one right into a classroom door.

"… you're not going to clean that up, are you…" Cravat said, yawning after finishing the statement. He didn't even have to ask, so there was no point adding a question mark at the end of that sentence. "Look, I know you two had a long night, so I think it would be better to… go home now and get a fresh start tomorrow…" he continued, barely being able to keep his eyes open. In fact they were all pretty tired. The two sisters already started to get irritated a few hours ago. The fact that they got diddly squat from the entire thing did nothing to alleviate their moods. Panty let out a calming breath.

"Eh, fine… ah fucking shit, hold on, I need to take a piss," Panty said, trying to find a bathroom near them. Both sisters needed to heed the call of nature, so Cravat slowly followed them until they both entered the restroom. He leaned himself back against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. He began to doze off a little, feeling his eyes slowly flutter close.

His eyes slowly opened again. He was in a vast and empty space, nothingness all around him. Right now it looked like he was walking on thin air. "Well this is… pretty cool actually," he said, taking a step to see if he would fall down into the abyss. Nope, still standing. He walked forward slowly, listening to the deafening silence, trying to find if there was anything of interest in this lucid dream of his. He noticed something appear as he stopped for a minute. Before him was something that looked like a reflection. Was it? Well it looked like him, the hair, the face, the clothes… although something was off. Was this one of those fun-house mirrors? He saw his brown hair as bleached white and his brown eyes as emerald green. He had a pretty good poker face going on too. Cravat was sure he wasn't scowling like that, so he decided to test it the old fashion way. He lifted his right hand, trying to see if the reflection would follow. Out of nowhere, it spoke.

"Let me get straight to the point. I'm not your reflection, so don't expect me to follow that hand of yours, dipshit." _**Cravat(?)**_ said with obvious venom in his words. Cravat put his arm down gently to the side.

"Well someone woke up on the wrong side of the subconscious."

_**Cravat(?)**_ rolled his eyes. He reached for his neck and a bright blue light emanated from his hands, a whip now present in each, looking exactly like his own Ghost Kiras. He stabbed the two bladed ends into the 'ground', or whatever it was they were standing on, and suddenly Cravat could feel something about to run him through from behind. He dashed to the right, right before two familiar trails of light zipped right past him, the blades barely missing his body. He dodged below them this time, the whips appearing right in front of his face. Cravat somersaulted backwards, materializing his own whips before deflecting his twin's attack by using his Ghost Kiras like daggers in a reverse-grip, flinging them right back. As he landed, Cravat quickly got up, not with the expression you'd expect. He was in awe, pure, slack-jawed, can-you-teach-me-that-please awe.

"Holy crap, how'd you do that?" Cravat asked, his voice filled with enthusiasm. _**Cravat(?)**_'s face formed a scowl.

"It pains me that you didn't know one of the most trivial things about my whips. Why do you think they're made of light, dumbass? So they could rip through time and space, that's what. You on the other hand use them in such a primitive fashion it _sickens_ me," he hissed, the bladed tips returning to both handles. Cravat regained his composure when a little light bulb appeared over his head. Yes, literally. Anything can happen in a dream.

"Oh wait a minute, I get it," Cravat said, letting a small smile tug at his mouth. _**Cravat(?)**_blinked.

"… you do?" he asked cautiously, almost as if he was about to compliment on how perceptive this idiotic-looking thing was.

"Are you like, Nega-Cravat or something? Is this the subspace? THAT WOULD BE SO COOL!" Cravat exclaimed, his smile becoming wider. _**Cravat(?)**_ could do nothing but stand there with his mouth agape. "Or is it like Persona, when I accept my true self. DO I GET TO SUMMON THINGS?" Cravat asked, rather enthusiastically.

_**Cravat(?)**_ massaged his temples. _Unbe-fucking-lievable_. "Honestly, I have no idea why you're my Doppelganger. I still think Heaven is trolling me," his eyes suddenly widened. "Son of a… Now I'm starting to talk like you…" he took stance, readying his weapons again. "It's not personal, well, maybe a little, but you'd be pissed too if someone took over your life. Not that you would know anymore, seeing as you're already a Ghost," he finished. Cravat let out a puff. A Ghost? Again with this conspiracy theory. _**Cravat(?)**_ thrust his whips to either side, the two tips disappearing into what looked like a magical portal, then bombarding his target from all sides. Cravat jumped from his position and unleashed barrage, swinging wildly in the air. Each of their blades danced, deflecting, teleporting, trying to find a weakness in each other's defense. But neither could get through. _**Cravat(?) **_grit his teeth. 'Even if he's an idiot, he's gotten better.'

Cravat then had an idea. He stopped deflecting his twin's onslaught. Wasting no time, the two teleporting whips redirected straight for his head. He flipped in mid-air, evading both ever so slightly, and suddenly grabbing the light trails that popped out of the magic circle. He smirked, and then in true Mortal Kombat fashion, he shouted. "GET OVER HERE!"

'Ah shit-fuck,' was the only thought that entered his head before the portals disappeared, and the entire length of _**Cravat(?)**_'s whip snapped back into one straight line. He was dragged violently through the air, and at the end of the metaphorical rainbow awaited a knee right into his gut. As the air in his lungs was forced out, he found himself falling back to the seemingly nonexistent ground, crashing with a distinct thud. He stared out into the pseudo-sky before him, thinking only one thing.

'Pretty little colored ponies...'

Cravat crouched down near his fallen twin's side. "Man, these lucid dreams get crazier and crazier… well not as crazy as that dream I had about Kneesocks but pretty damn close," he stated, lightening the mood. _**Cravat(?)**_ blinked once. What was the point of this again? He couldn't force the idiot out of his body anyway. It would only take the sheer realization of his pitiful situation to break his hold. Maybe he was just curious. Just how strong did that idiot become by being someone he wasn't? That absolute world he'd built around himself, the notion that he was an Angel, sent here to help those two whores collect some Heavens.

Nothing could be farther from what he really was. Cravat's reality that he ran away from. He wouldn't be able to escape it. Once that drunken old man back in Little Tokyo even mentioned the possibility, the metaphorical dominos were set in motion. 'Even if the idiot said it didn't bother him anymore, somewhere deep down it's been gnawing at his core.'

_**Cravat(?)**_ sat up straight, letting out a sigh as he did. "I'll let you have your fun. But you wanna know something? I can feel your anxiety. You know something's up," he started, getting back up to his feet. Cravat addressed him with narrowed eyes and a blank expression. He quietly felt his right hand. It really was twitching. The landscape suddenly shifted, and they started to fade away, the background rumbling and rippling. "Don't worry, when the time comes, it'll come. I'll be back in my body, that redhead would be my slave again, I'd fuck that Angel girl you seem to be pining for like no tomorrow-" a slight pause, or rather, an interruption. Cravat's hand suddenly clasped around his twin's neck, his grip slowly tightening. His eyes gave off a look that could pierce your very soul.

"I'm going to accept you for now, since if I don't you'll just get stronger. But I think I'll suppress the sexual urges, thank you very much," Cravat hissed through a cynical smile. He could make out a small smirk form on his twin's mouth.

"Fine fine, whatever. It's only a matter of time before everything goes back to normal. Everyone wins…" his smirk grew even wider. "Well, everyone except you."

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

Cravat awoke with a jolt. He almost fell over from the wall he was leaning on. He lazily scratched his eyes and looked around. "Man I love lucid dreams," he laughed. He could barely remember anything anymore, only that it was by his standards, an 'epic showdown with his inner self'. He suddenly had the urge to play Persona again, or at the very least reread 'Vs. The World'. He started to stretch his arms when he heard a loud crash from the bathroom. Now normally he would come barging right in, but this was different. He was about to step into foreign territory, a sacred holy ground forbidden to those of the opposite sex. What would he find there? A vast facility with top of the line, diamond encrusted, imported porcelain sinks and bowls? Perhaps their own LED T.V. with six hundred sixty-six different high definition channels? Oh the endless possibilities. He swallowed his anxiety and burst through the door, ready for anything.

It looked like a normal, run-of-the-mill, school-grade bathroom. Ah well, that's one universal mystery solved. Another mystery would be why his two female companions were on the floor, skirts up, underwear down, and not moving an inch. Well, Panty didn't have her underwear on, as he could see Backlace's outline in her hand. He honestly wondered what happened. Wincest? Doubt it. Below their lithe figures lay a black shape with red highlights and two menacing yellow eyes. That was one small Ghost.

"Ladies, would both of you be so kind as to cover yourselves down there? I can see right into your not-so-Angelic Souls," He said, metaphorically speaking of course. The two of them got up slowly and planted their heels on the Ghost's back, adjusting whatever applicable article of clothing they had on to cover their Area 51s.

"Such a wimp, Otaku-boy," Panty grumbled, fixing her skirt.

"Oh no, it's for your sakes. Don't want me to jump either of you now would you?" he said sarcastically. The Ghost squirmed a little. Now that he got a good look at it, it was small, something like a humanoid Raccoon of sorts, but with no tail. It still had those fangs most Ghosts had in their mouths. It suddenly hurled itself violently upward, throwing Panty and Stocking off balance, gaining enough time to set itself free. The Ghost scurried across the floor, and jumped right into one of the toilet bowls. The three of them stood slack-jawed.

"No fucking way I'm chasing after it now, that's one place we don't want to go." Panty grumbled, cracking her neck.

"Speaking from experience are we?" Stocking joked, a smirk forming on her delicate features. The blonde gave her sister the finger, to which Stocking stifled a laugh. As they were walking back to Cravat, they were splashed by some water. Toilet water, to be precise. Their heads snaked around slowly to see the Ghost peeking out of the toilet bowl, laughing its little head off. Backlace and Stripes 1 materialized in a split second. Needless to say, the two Angels were spewing out swears at the little bastard as they tried to absolutely mutilate it, not caring for the damage that they were causing. Cravat sighed as he calmly matrix-ed below a cubicle door that was flung his way. The two sisters didn't look like they were going to let this go. Petty as it might have seemed, he walked outside.

"Maybe a few hours of strolling around the campus would pass the time…" he whispered to himself. 3:57AM. Only about four more hours still school started anyway. He stuffed his hands into his pockets. It was a good thing he was wearing the uniform already. 'Four hours of talking to myself,' he thought, looking at his wrist-watch. 'Whoop-dee-doo."

_**So like, 4 hours later…**_

Sun was up. That was a good sign. A very good sign. He'd been staring at this little notch in the branch of a tree for the past thirty minutes. He started to get bored of it. Sun meant school. School meant time passed. Time passing meant he could stop talking to his imaginary friend Frufru the talking Dandelion. He got up and cracked his knuckles, stretched his arms, and did some morning exercise routines Frufru had taught him. He had to shake off how tired he was. As he saw people starting to head for the school doors, he took notice to Panty and Stocking, who Brief seemed to be accompanying, sitting on a bench just under a tree, looking worse for wear and exhausted. He guessed they didn't manage to catch the little ass of a Ghost. As he approached them, he noticed something else. Everyone was in uniform. Oh right, that new policy Kneesocks was talking about. Come to think of it, he was pretty sure it was almost time for her to be arriving on campus.

"Yo," he called out, waving a hand at the two beat-up looking Angels, Panty sleeping with her head leaning back, and Stocking . They just grumbled in reply. "Rough morning?" he asked sarcastically. Another grumble.

"What happened?" Brief asked, looking at Panty with concern. Cravat yawned one hell of a yawn.

"Ghosts, Ghosts, more Ghosts, and Ghosts. That about sums it up," He replied, sitting down beside Stocking on the bench, poking the side of her head repeatedly with his finger. She let out an annoyed whine, but was too lazy to do anything. He noticed the sisters weren't wearing their proper school uniforms. "Kneesocks is going to chew you guys up for this," he empathized, knowing what sort of punishment might befall them. He stood up from the bench."I'll see you guys after school then. Brief, you coming?"

"I think I'll stay with them for a little while longer. Panty asked me to explain why everyone was in a uniform after their nap," he said while scratching his head, an awkward smile on his face. Cravat turned around and started heading to his homeroom. He encountered Habit along the way, and he told her about last night… well, last night until early this morning. The bags under his eyes told the tale pretty well. Habit looked a little concerned for him.

"You want to play with Chuck for a while? I brought him along for fun," she asked, unzipping her messenger bag. The little zipper-dog popped its head out. Cravat lifted Chuck up, and he started slobbering all over the place. He had to keep Chuck at arm's length so the little guy wouldn't make a mess of his uniform. For the first few periods he put Chuck on his desk, making him act like a pencil case whenever a teacher or a classmate got a little curious what the green thing was and started to walk to him or glance his way. He passed the time in Algebra rearranging the Chuck's limbs, and for Economics, he actually played with him like he would a puppy, despite the obvious differences. He was just a loveable little… green thing. Cravat could've sworn he saw this extremely hellish looking demon dog when he looked what lied beyond Chuck's zipper, but he was probably imagining things. He ate Recess and lunch with Habit, who seemed to have brought him food today to make up for sending him off to fight on an empty stomach last night.

Near the end of lunch period, he noticed Brief hasn't come back since they saw each other this morning with the girls. He wondered if the three of them got in trouble with the Daemon sisters. He finished the baked Salmon Habit brought for him and got up, taking Chuck with him.

"Where're you going?" Habit asked.

"Er, c-clinic?" Cravat stuttered. She stifled a laugh.

"You can't lie to save your life, you know that right? Go on then, I'll go with the clinic story if anyone asks. They'd probably believe it anyway."

She got him there. Seems like just yesterday Kneesocks lead him to the clinic everyday of the week due to some unforeseen accident whether it was because of Lash-Out or because he failed to tie his shoe. Thank god he started wearing shoes that didn't need laces anymore. As the bell rang, he went all sneaky-sneaky by sticking to the walls, trying to get to a nearby safe-spot so he could contact girls, or Brief for that matter. He punched in Brief's number on his phone as he got to an emergency stairwell, still carrying Chuck in his other arm. Ringing… ringing… ringing… ding, he heard someone on the other end.

"Otaku-Boy, get your ass to a toilet right now and flush yourself!" Panty shouted, forcing Cravat to put his phone an entire arm's length away from his left ear.

"Say what?"

"Ghost-plant under the school, we found that little asshole who splashed us earlier. Led us right to this fucking hell-hole. Now go flush yourself dammit, we've got a job to do," she repeated before hanging up. She sounded even more irritable than usual. Was it time for her monthly bloody waterfall? Wait, do Angels even get those? He shrugged off the thought and headed for the first bathroom nearest to him. Luckily it was right outside the stairwell. He went to a stall and looked intently at the toilet. How the hell would he be able to flush himself? Chuck jumped out of his grip and walked on the water-tank behind the seat. The little green zipper-god reached behind it, and Cravat heard a switch go 'click'. The toilet disappeared, not just that actually, the entire stall floor.

"Meep."

Chuck jumped back into Cravat's arms as he began to fall, and he zipped through one hell of a dirty pipeline. He held his breath and closed his eyes as he continued to be transported deeper and deeper into the orifices of the school, sliding and swooshing along the entrails of only god knew what. He opened his eyes for a moment and saw the literal light at the end of the tunnel. He was propelled out of another toilet, right onto the rocky surface of what looked like a hollowed-out cave. He felt the urge to throw up as he tried to breathe again, to which Chuck suddenly licked all the slime and sludge right off of his clothes. Cravat gasped for breath, taking in as much air as possible, before petting Chuck on the head.

"When we get home I'm making you gargle Hydrogen Peroxide, and probably some alcohol. Lots and lots of it," he said with a grimace on his face. Chuck just tilted its head and let out a questioning whimper. He got up and checked his surroundings. The place was lit by the glow that relatively tall spire, about the size of a giant tree maybe, gave off. On top of it was this eerily glowing stone that seemed to be absorbing energy from the surface. As he let his gaze travel down, he saw rows upon rows of conveyor belts, those light-bulb headed Ghosts being produced from each one, and at a very fast pace. 'Ooooh,' he suddenly realized. '_That_ kind of Ghost plant,' he thought, scratching the back of his head. He expected to find the regretful soul of some kind of Flora down here. Looking around, he tried to find where Panty, Stocking, and Brief had landed. Then, from the distance, he could hear something. Swear words. He followed the trail of profanities right up to the mouth which was spouting them. Panty's, to be exact. The sisters and Brief, along with the Ghost he was sure was the one which splashed the girls, had started to make their way to the giant spire looking… thing.

"Yo… again." He called out, catching up to them. He walked alongside Stocking, who also looked to be a little pissed. "What's got their underwear in a knot?" He asked Brief. Brief just shrugged.

"The Daemon sisters kind of… showed them up this morning," he replied cautiously. He was sure the girls had that pissed-off tick mark on their heads right now. Brief went on to explain how in the span of the morning session, the Anarchy sisters complained to the student council about the restrictions they started to impose. Not that they attended school much anyway, but whenever they were there they wanted it to be more entertaining than staring at mold slowly take over one-week old bread. So they challenged the Daemon sisters to a majority vote on who were the real queens of the school so that the rules could be changed back.

"And that didn't end very well," he continued. The Daemon sisters, being the new and benevolent Queens, a far cry of what Panty and Stocking were, won by a landslide.

"Where the hell was I during all of this?" Cravat asked, wondering how he could've missed such a big event. Oh right, he was with Habit in their classroom the entire morning. "Don't answer that. Anyway, why don't take this place down to make you two feel better?" he said, trying to lighten the mood. The Anarchy sisters grumbled in reply. 'Oh right, those two never took losing very lightly.'

They reached the spire, when a red carpet flung out of nowhere and hit Brief right in the gut, launching him back a few feet. You don't see _that_ every day. As Brief tried to regain his bearings, they heard footsteps come from the stairs that lead up the spire. Two figures slowly walked down. Cravat had a feeling of déjà vu. He knew that stride from anywhere. Commanding, elegant, subtle, respectable.

"Kneesocks?" he called out. Once the two figures exited the shadows of the spire, their entire body was illuminated by the light from the Ghost stone. Kneesocks and Scanty. The Daemon sisters. The two of them looked down at Cravat's group like Hawks.

"Cravat? You ally yourselves with these… Savages?" Kneesocks asked, her eyes staring at him with a nonchalant gaze. "I thought you would be… smarter than this.

"Me? What about you? What the hell are you doing with this Ghost plant which apparently isn't a literal plant at all?" he shouted. Did she know? Did she know he was an Angel? All of them?

"It seems we can't rely on that girl to keep you away from these two. At any rate, you're here, and it seems we'll have to eliminate all of you if we want to let this mass-production continue uninterrupted," Scanty said, he eyes narrowing on the Anarchy sisters. "You can't stop our plan to drown this world in Ghosts."

The mass-produced Ghosts gathered themselves up in front of the Daemon sisters, forming a defensive line. Their weapons were held high, and they were increasing in numbers by the second.

"You two done yet? Why the hell would two rule-following, bondage-loving skanks like you want to drown the world in Ghosts anyway? I'm pretty sure you're breaking a few laws having this factory right underneath the school right here. What the hell happened to your precious _rrruuurrruuus?_" Stocking asked, looking ready to rip the Daemon sisters a new one.

"Who gives a shit?" Panty exclaimed, a smirk appearing on her face. "Now we have an excuse to kick their ass," she shouted excitedly. Cravat had a feeling he knew what was going to happen next.

"Cue the stripper poles," he sighed. Sure enough, flashing lights started to show everywhere, and the Anarchy sisters did their thing. Scanty and Kneesocks didn't look too amused. They seemed rather… calm. Ominously so. Backlace and Stripes 1 materialized in their respective owner's hand, and they struck a pose.

"You all seem to be confused," Scanty said, her smirk revealing that little fang she had. "This is our mission. Our duty. "\I think we need to teach these impudent little Angels a lesson, wouldn't you think so, Kneesocks?"

"Yes, I think we should, dear sister."

Tails suddenly appeared from behind both of them, and their eyes glowed a fierce yellow. Then, out of nowhere, Cravat had more déjà vu. Another stage appeared below the Daemon sisters, similar to Panty and Stocking's, just without the stripper poles. 'Oh hell no,' He thought, laughing nervously in his head a bit.

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

_**May the Earth Shatter,**_

_**May the Oceans Dry,**_

_**May the Sun extinguish itself,**_

_**Grant upon us the power of our Lord Satan in Hell,**_

_**We are Demons, High Class Demon Commanders!**_

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

More flashing lights, sounds, and background music. Scanty materialized two Revolvers, while Kneesocks had two giant Scythes in her hands. A little pink zipper-creature that didn't really look like a dog appeared after their transformation, mumbling something that sounded like Fastener as it jumped in front of them. Chuck ran forwards and went toe to toe with it. Seemed like they had a score to settle. Must've known each other for a while.

'Does every form of Ethereal life have to STRIP whenever they introduce themselves?' Cravat mused to himself. Wait, did they say Demons? "Oh, so the Daemon sisters…"

"Were actually Demons?" the little Ghost they let tag along exclaimed. The little bastard jumped to join the Daemon sisters' side. Cravat took point beside Panty and Stocking, materializing his Ghost Kiras as he stood ready.

"You know, now it all makes sense, the red complexion, the horns," he started, reflecting on HOW HE COULD'VE FUCKING NOT REALIZED IT. Then again, he was never one to question anything out of the ordinary. "Do all Demons have a spot on their horns though?"

Scanty blinked. "He knows about that?" she asked her sister. Kneesocks' face started to become a deeper shade of red, but she stayed silent. She saw Cravat smirking in her direction, and for fun, he licked his lips. Oh how red she got. He found it amusing, in a 'let me have some fun before we totally try to murder each other' kind of way.

"C-Can we get this over with?" Kneesocks exclaimed, trying to regain her composure.

"Three against two and a half? Doesn't really seem like a fair fight," Cravat said, referring to the little Ghost thing that switched sides. Kneesocks suddenly stabbed her scythe into the Ghost's back. Slowly, its fangs grew, and its arms started to morph into wings. It grew in size, almost as large as the spire, and its menacing eyes glowed fiercely as it looked down on them. The pansy little Ghost had tuned into one hell of a dragon.

Yep, they're demons alright.

"I think this would be considered a fair fight, wouldn't you?" Kneesocks asked, directing it at Cravat. All he could do was smile.

"Stocking, mind taking the dragon?" Cravat asked, readying himself to charge.

"Sure… hey wait when the hell did you ever get to boss me around?" she miffed. Cravat took a glance to his side, meeting her cyan-colored eyes.

"I asked nicely," he laughed. Stocking sighed.

"Fine, whatever. Let's just get this started. I've been waiting to kick some ass," she snapped.

"Alright then, just one thing," he paused, licking his lips and looking right into Kneesocks' eyes. It unnerved her a little. "Dibs on little miss bookworm over there."

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

_**Author's Notes: It seems like I update every month now. Goshhhhhhh. Anyway, thanks for the comments guys, and about any supposed 'lemons' that might happen, I don't know yet. I'm not very experienced with that aspect of fanfiction as of yet, but I can try XD. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, even if it IS a little long. Here's to hoping I can update earlier next time…. Yeahhhhhhh.**_


	10. Chapter 10 We Can't Go Back

**Chapter 10 – We Can't Go Back**

"Geek-Boy…!" Panty said within earshot. The boy stood at attention.

"Y-y-y-yes P-P-Pa-Panty?" Brief stammered.

"Get that Ghost Stone, we'll distract these skanks," Stocking passed her the underwear she had on, and as Panty caught it, it materialized into another Backlace. Stocking herself materialized another blade out of her remaining thigh-highs. Brief made a dash for the spire, taking Chuck along with him. Scanty made a move to intercept, but Panty intercepted her, starting a point-blank, all-out, gun-fu battle between them.

"Not bad you little bitch," Panty sarcastically spouted as she back-flipped into the air. She fired off two bullets, both being intercepted by Scanty's own.

"I wish I could say the same for you…!" Scanty taunted, launching herself skyward after Panty.

Stocking jumped on the gigantic Ghost-Dragon's back, stabbing it with her blades to hold on. It roared in pain as they were both carried upwards, the Ghost flying through the underground cavern. It slammed itself into a wall, finally shaking Stocking off. She landed on the wall it slammed into, staying suspended and waiting for its next move. A giant claw came swiping, pushing her into the wall. As the dust cleared, Stocking held the beast's claw an arm's length away from her like it was nothing. She shoved the claw away, in turn launching the Ghost back down the cavern.

Kneesocks stood there, waiting for Cravat to make a move. Growing tired of it quickly, she came dashing at him, scythes aimed to kill. He was surprised at her speed, frantically sidestepping the strike. The Scythes crashed into the ground where he once stood, literally splitting that little patch of the Earth in half.

'Shit just got real,' Cravat readied himself, trying to see if she would leave an opening. One moment of his hesitation and Kneesocks managed to capitalize on it, swinging both her weapons in a full arc. He raised his left arm in defense, not being able to evade the blow at such a close range. She smashed his arm full force with the face of her scythes. Cravat let out a pained growl through gritted his teeth as he was sent reeling, then another smash sent him across the cold, stone floor. He lost grip of his whips and they were sent flying a ways away.

He tried to support himself on his right arm. As he tried to use his left, it crumpled down under his weight and throbbed like a bitch. "Fuck…!" he cussed under his breath. Demon weaponry seemed to have more effect on him than anything else. He pushed off the ground with his right arm and stood upright. 'Okay, let's think for a second… ah shit,' Kneesocks wasn't about to let him have a respite, throwing her Scythes at him, which he quickly flipped over as he got to his feet. He grabbed both Scythes in mid-air as they passed beneath him, and threw them back with the same ferocity, ignoring the pain in his left arm. As he landed back on the ground, she had already dashed for him, catching her weapons mid-flight without struggle. Crazy lady was hungry for his blood.

"Wahrgarbl..." he muttered incoherently under his breath as he anticipated when she would be in striking distance. He needed his whips now more than anything, and he had to make an opening to get to them. It took all his concentration as he nimbly dodged her horizontal swipe. Jumping over the huge blades of the Scythes, he got behind her, his knee colliding ferociously with the broad of her back. He just hit a girl. His conscience will never let him live this one down. Kneesocks hissed in pain as she was sent flying. Cravat landed and made a dash for his discarded whips. As he grabbed both, Kneesocks had already recovered, dashing for him once again. 'She isn't even breaking a sweat…!'

Cravat viciously swung his Ghost-Kiras in a wide arc to either side of him, ensnaring Kneesocks as she approached. He tightened his grip, sending a high-voltage shock from the handles all the way to the coil that wrapped her. She shouted in pain, squirming to break free of the prison. 'I can't beat you in direct combat, as much as I'd like to _not_ admit it,' he thought to himself. The momentary upper-hand he had managed to distract him for a second.

"Otaku-boy!" Panty shouted in the distance. His head turned sharply. In an instant, all he saw was the distinct dark-gold flash of a revolver barrel facing his direction.

'Fucking shi-' Cravat instinctively retracted the whip he held in his right hand. At the same time he heard the gun fire, he swung out his whip in Scanty's direction, cleanly slicing the bullet meant for his skull in two, the halves making two sizeable craters to either side of him. Panty charged Scanty from behind, and they crashed into a far wall. He turned his attention back to Kneesocks. Suffice to say, the girl looked like she was going to murder him in a… _painful_ way. He cringed. Cravat attempted to ensnare her again with the other whip, but she quickly broke away. "Brief, how's that Ghost Stone coming along?" he shouted, his eyes not shifting from Kneesocks, seeing the look in her eyes, finalizing his gut feeling of how much of a gap there was in their skill.

He couldn't beat her, and they both knew it.

"Almost there!" Brief shouted frantically, running up the spire with a flood of artificial Ghosts pursuing him. As they reached the top, Brief threw Chuck right at the Ghost Stone. The zipper-dog devoured it in one big gulp, and went to jump back to Brief when the pink… zipper-whatever-it-was Fastener kicked Chuck sky-high. Fastener unleashed a torrent of punches followed by a devastating knee to Chuck's gut. The latter excreted the Ghost Stone through its back-door and the putrid ball of evil, now made even more foul and disgusting, plummeted to the ground. Kneesocks tried to break away from her duel with Cravat to jump up and catch the stone, but the latter swung his whips in her direction, latching onto her leg and dragging her back down.

"Brief, the stone!" Cravat shouted, swinging Kneesocks around and smashing her into the side of the spire. Brief let out a loud gulp before jumping after the stone. It landed on the Ghost-Dragon's back, followed by Brief himself. As he clung for dear life, the stone fell once more right into the toilet they had used to get into the cavern.

"The things I do…" Brief said, laughing at his luck, or rather lack thereof, and then jumped right after it. Artificial Ghosts stormed the toilet in hot pursuit.

Stocking jumped high into the air, the Ghost opening its jaws at her. She smirked, before being eaten whole in one quick jerk of the massive Ghost's head. As the Ghost flew higher, a giant blue blade cut into its abdomen from within, slicing off its lower half. The Ghost exploded into ash, with Stocking catching the two Heavens that remained.

"I'll go get Geek-Boy, try and distract those two would you kindly? Kay-thanks-bye!" Stocking shouted as she went through the passage.

"Oh no you don't!" Scanty shouted, rushing after Stocking.

"Bitch you come back here!" Panty barked, right behind Scanty as they seemed to be absorbed right into the porcelain bowl. Nasty place, that. He honestly didn't want to do what he was about to do, but he had to help the others.

"I expected more, Cravat," Kneesocks suddenly called out, pointing her Scythes at him. "At this rate you won't even be able to touch me again."

He just had to snicker as she finished the sentence. Kneesocks's already flushed face turned a more crimson color as her face contorted in annoyance.

"You realize I can't even beat you in Dance Dance Rebellion right?" he said light heartedly. But it just hid how disappointed he was with himself. 'I can take down even the toughest of Ghosts but I can't hold my own against someone on equal footing… well, I guess I can't really call it equal footing anymore.'

"Do you know what will happen if the Ghost stone is destroyed, Cravat?" Kneesocks suddenly asked.

"Huh? The factory will be destroyed, won't it?"

"True," she gave him a stern gaze. "However it will not only destroy the factory, the compressed demonic energy that will be unleashed will swallow the immediate vicinity. In other words…"

Realization suddenly hit home in his head. "You're saying if we destroy the stone, the school goes down with it?"

"Precisely."

'Well that's just fucking great,' Cravat thought. He already had a feeling destroying the stone won't end things so easily. The lives of hundreds of humans were in jeopardy. He could already hear that annoying theme-song play in his head.

"Once those two bitch-angels realize that, I doubt they'd try and get a hold of the stone, let alone destroy it. They'll have no choice but to retreat let us take our course." Kneesocks said, almost with a triumphant tone.

Cravat had to laugh slightly, in a dismal way. "If there's one thing I know about the Anarchy Sisters, it's they'll will go to whatever length to get a job done. I doubt human lives would even stand in their way."

Kneesocks stood there, unmoving. She tried to feel if what he said was some kind of joke. He looked right into her eyes with a gaze that unnerved her. He wasn't joking in the slightest. "W-What kind of Angels let human lives go to waste?"

Cravat let out a sigh. "Look at it this way, and let me sugar coat it since I doubt they see things the way I do. We let you off the hook and your little army's going to screw the entire world over. We sacrifice a few hundred, and maybe save hundreds of thousands."

"Kill a few for the many? Does that not go against your moral code? I thought Angels sought to protect humanity at all costs, and this is how you do it?"

"What are _you_ getting so worked up about? I think we all know humanity's one fucked up ball of contradictions and inconsistencies. Even so…" Cravat looked upwards, seemingly optimistic. "There are some who go on with their lives… their boring, mundane lives…" he paused for a bit, a sting reaching his head, but he ignored it, "… who live on in the hope that something will happen, to see the world change." He looked sternly at Kneesocks, the latter tensing at the former's newfound confidence. "What about you? You don't seem to be the world domination type."

"It's my obligation to what my master tells me to."

"There's a fine line between being obligated to do something and just being a puppet with no notions of your own, Kneesocks. You'd best remember that."

He took one deep breath and made a dash for the porcelain bowl while Kneesocks seemingly reflected on his words. She snapped out of her trance but it was too late. He found his way into the pipeline and slid up and out of the pipes into an empty cubicle, before dashing out of whatever bathroom he was in.

"I was pretty badass back there…" he mused. "_You'd best remember that." _He said in the same serious tone he was using just a few moments ago. He must've wound up in a far end of the school, because he could basically hear squat, and he expected various shouting and cussing by now. It was a good five minutes before a familiar noise sounded off in the distance. A distinct humming of sorts, or was it more of a 'vroom'? Definitely a 'vroom', Cravat noticed as the noise got closer. Then he realized, only one thing could make a sound like that, and that would be a car. A car in the school? How the hell would that work?

"Run Geek-Boy run." A familiar voice shouted over the noise. Stocking sounded like she was close.

"Aren't you going to give me a ride?" A boy, obviously Brief, shouted back. To one end of the hallway came rushing Brief, followed by a familiar pink Hummer. Chuck was driving See-Through for Stocking as they tailed the poor boy, who by now was out of breath as he ran for his life. Normally, someone would find vehicles in the school odd and illegal, but rules never really applied to the Anarchy sisters. Cravat heard another engine revving from a ways away. A giant limousine-esque SUV rounded a corner like a snake, its flexible chassis storming around quickly. G – Sting advanced like wildfire through the hallway, and Cravat made a mental note not to even try stopping it. He spied Kneesocks sitting shotgun, indifferent, but with her eyes narrowed at him.

An emergency stairwell was beside his position, and he decided it was now or never. At the moment Brief was in front of him, Cravat shoved both of them into the stairwell, before the two automobiles collided and were at a deadlock, Chuck and Fastener having fire in their eyes and punching the gas on their respective machines as far as they could go. 'Might as well give them a little help,' Cravat thought.

"Upstairs, the roof, go, now," Cravat said quickly, nudging Brief up the stairs.

"A-alright, be careful," Brief replied, trusting Cravat.

Cravat assessed what he could do. He spied something at the corner of his eye. It was a fire alarm.

_Sacrifice a few hundred, and maybe save hundreds of thousands._

Finding another way without death and lost lives. Was this his hope for humanity? He acted all calm and collected, but his conscience wouldn't let anyone die if they could be saved. Deus-ex-machina, you've done it again. He smashed the fire alarm. As the bells rang in the distance, the confused echoing of voices told him that the students got the message.

'Now that that's settled…' He noticed the crevice the two cars made with their bumpers raised off the ground as the two machines vied for dominance. Well this would be fun.

'…I've done crazier things,' he mused. He dashed for the space underneath, shifting his weight and going into a slide, managing to squeeze into the tiny spacing between the two. He punched See-Through hard, rising high enough that it landed on G-Sting's hood, before absolutely mutilating its roof and Fastener in the process. He launched himself through the school window, using his whips to latch onto the side of the building.

Cravat started running up the side of the school to get to the roof when Kneesocks jumped out from a window below him, Scythes at the ready. She swiped at him, but hit nothing but air. She dragged her Scythes through the school walls as she ran up after him, ripping and tearing at the concrete before swinging her weapons above her head. Two gold and black blade-beams of darkness rushed to hack him to death. He made a full one-eighty degree turn, swinging his whips and slashing the energy-blades in two. As it disappeared, Kneesocks rushed him, creating a shockwave behind her before smashing herself into Cravat, the force propelling the two of them high above the school.

Cravat viciously kicked Kneesocks away mid-flight and swung wildly, latching onto her scythes. But instead of him pulling her, it was the opposite. She overpowered him and dragged him through the air, before smashing him viciously back down. Time seemed to slow as he fell down to towards the rooftop.

(C'mon, kid.)

Cravat recognized that voice. It was _**his(?)**_ voice.

(Remember that little trick I did with my whips? Even an idiot like you can pull it off. I can't stand losing to a Demon of all things, so let me take over for juuuust a little bit, kay?)

Cravat had no choice. Or did he? Maybe it was his own pride speaking as well. He didn't want to be the weakest link, not now, not ever. He had to use whatever he could. He felt his consciousness fade ever so slightly. His eyes turned from brown to a glowing bright azure as he unconsciously thrust both whips to his side, and the tips disappeared into a portal that broke through reality. Two portals appeared behind Kneesocks, and the blades slashed through her, cutting and grazing her right arm and thigh, before disappearing and reappearing from another point, mercilessly assaulting her as she tried to defend herself to no avail. Cravat looked on as he felt like he really was no longer the one in control.

'You can stop now…!'

(Hell no, this is too fun!)

That maniacal voice ringed in his head. Whatever it was, it was enjoying this. Cravat felt himself regaining control again, forcing the controller to undo its hold on him.

(Aw, just when it was getting to the good part.)

Kneesocks tilted her head in time before a blade skewered her face, the blade cutting loose her ponytail, before another blade appeared in front of her chest about to run her through.

'FUN'S OVER!' It stopped right before it connected, Cravat having regained control. She fell down towards him, battered and grazed everywhere, her hair flowing. He threw himself upwards, defying gravity and laughing in its face, and caught her as she fell. She was shaken, but she was conscious, conscious enough to try and struggle free. She was too weak even for that.

"I think I got a little… carried away," Cravat said awkwardly.

"You should just kill me now and save yourself the trouble later," Kneesocks grimaced.

"No."

She blinked. "What?"

"Just like I said. No."

Cravat landed safely on the rooftop, letting Kneesocks down on an opposite side to regain her strength as he heard Brief's voice call out somewhere. He hurried towards it, leaving her to regain her composure.

'An absolute idiot,' she thought. But she couldn't help but grin slightly. She shook her head, feeling her fatigue fading quickly. 'Whatever the case, I must finish what my sister and I started.'

Cravat opened a door just to see Brief scramble out with a bunch of artificial Ghosts behind him. Cravat started to work on them as Brief tried to regain his breath, but Kneesocks had other plans. She was already up and running towards both of them, Scythes at the ready. She threw both Scythes full-force at them, Brief scrambling under one, warning Cravat of the other, who noticed it too late.

'Shit…!'

A distinct metallic clashing filled the air as the Scythes were deflected. Two bright blue Katanas returned to their master as she walked up beside Cravat. Stocking knocked him upside the head.

"You keep letting your guard down."

Cravat rubbed the area she hit. "Sorry, I'm a little out of it right now," considering, well, he went all psycho-killer nary a few minutes ago. "Where's Pa-"

A pitch-black bullet was intercepted before it found its way into Brief's skull by a bright blue sniper-rifle shell from a higher-up vantage point. Panty's skirt flowing through the air left nothing to the imagination as her very 'soul' was shamelessly displayed to the entire world. She jumped down, reforming her dual handguns, pointing them at Scanty, who held Brief at gunpoint. Kneeoscks put a Scythe to his neck for good measure.

"One more step and the human dies," Scanty said smugly.

"Go ahead, and when you do pull the trigger your big head will be exploding into a million pieces," Panty barked, slowly advancing with Stocking towards the Daemon sisters. "You're fine with that, right, Geek-Boy?"

Brief let out a loud gulp. "Can't you at least say my name properly before I die?"

Scanty was starting to get frustrated. "You… you call yourselves Angels?" she yelled, flustered and awe-struck that they would let the human bite the proverbial bullet. Kneesocks looked at Cravat, who just shrugged in a very I-told-you-so fashion, having a half-way smirk on his face.

Scanty narrowed her eyes. Panty hoped her banter would get the demon-girl frustrated enough to shoot at them. It seemed to be working.

"Fuckin' angels…!" Scanty clicked her gun to full auto.

'Get ready Stocking,' Panty signaled her sister. But instead of shooting at them, Scanty pressed the barrel of one revolver against the side of Brief's head.

"I'm giving you until the count of five…!" Scanty growled with a crazed look on her face. "ONE."

"Oh joy, a counting game," Panty said sarcastically.

"TWO."

For some reason, Panty had a feeling Scanty wasn't messing around. "… ah shit."

"Did I mention my sister will also go to any length to achieve our goal?" Kneesocks said to no one in particular. Cravat put a hand to his face.

"Crap dammit."

"THREE."

"Panty, now what?" Stocking asked. "She's really going to shoot him."

"FOUR."

A moment before the word five came out of Scanty's mouth, Chuck and Fastener came crashing through the roof from below, skidding across as they turned sharply towards each other. They all scattered, Scanty pushing Brief away to make a dive for it as Kneesocks rolled away, while the three Angels all jumped skyward. See-Through and G-Sting clashed once more, smashing and skidding along each other as they used the rooftop as their own personal death-derby raceway.

"Chuck!" Brief shouted as he rolled to his feet. He unzipped his pants and retrieved the Ghost stone from only god knows where, throwing it into Chuck's path. The zipper-dog turned sharply, letting the Ghost stone fall right beside the driver's seat.

"What the hell?" Scanty cussed loudly. "Fastener!"

The Daemon sisters hopped into G-Sting as the Anarchy sisters along with Cravat and Brief jumped into See-Through.

"Can we break the stone now?" Stocking shouted.

"Students still too near, have to disperse them somehow," Cravat argued. He had a relatively bright idea. "Chuck, jump off the roof!" Chuck gunned it, and Fastener followed suit. The two vehicles launched off the roof of the school and flew through the air above hordes of confused students. Cravat had to get them to scatter away from the school.

"BOMB!"

Cravat motioned with his arms, but they all had those confused looks on their faces. Well, students these days always had that look, but nevertheless it didn't help in getting them the hell away from a blast that was about to vaporize their sad existence off the face of the Earth. He did a motion to all of them to get away from the school premises. Still wouldn't budge. Some of them even gave him the finger.

"Why am I trying to save these guys again?"

"Because you're an idiot, that's why," Panty said, looking at him with a deadpan expression. "This should scare em." she put one leg on See-Through's door, her skimpy red dress fluttering in the breeze and showing off her soul to the entire student body. Many whistles of appreciation came from below, but as much as Panty wanted to tease them more, she had to do something for the idiot sitting right next to him using one hand to block his own view of her womanhood... well the other idiot was already dying of blood loss via his nasal passages. She combined her pistols into a rocket-launcher. She let off an entire salvo, aiming at the walls of the school near enough to the students to get them running the hell away. She angrily pointed towards the road leading to the city. With no protest, they scrambled like little ants. Cravat laughed a little.

"That's one way to get things done."

"Well, you know me," Panty replied, beaming.

A Scythe came between the two of them, missing their faces by inches and lodging itself into the front-seat. Scanty and Kneesocks launched themselves off of G-Sting's hood, causing the LSUV, which Cravat made up as the acronym Limousine Sports Uber Vehicle, to spin back down to the ground, crashing into the ground with its front-end deep in the Earth. Scanty and Kneesocks landed on See-Through's trunk, pointing their weapons at the Anarchy sisters' throats before they could react. Cravat was about to move when Scanty clicked the hammer of her revolver, aiming at Panty right between the eyes.

"One move and her brain will decorate the sky."

"… Tree." That was all Cravat could say. Somewhere along their parabolic journey through the sky they ended up heading straight for one tall-ass oak. They all braced for the impact, but it never came. Normally they would've just crashed into it and be flung forward like normal, but through some twisted comedic sense of humor the oak tree _absorbed_ the impact from colliding with an entire Hummer and its passengers, bending forward until they were mere inches from the ground.

"Doesn't this only happen on T.V.?" Cravat asked out loud through squinted eyes. Stocking looked at their situation.

"… yep."

"So this is the part where we…?"

"… yep."

The oak tensed itself back up, flinging everyone back in the direction of the school parking lot. They all managed to get off before crashing headfirst into a wall, save for Chuck and Brief, who braced themselves for the incoming collision.

See-Through crashed into the school wall, leaving yet another hole. The others scrambled to their feet, with one thing on their minds.

"Where's the stone?" Scanty shouted, surveying the area quickly. Cravat suddenly rolled sideways, getting up quickly as soon as he recovered. The glowing red stone was in his hand, holding it out in front of him all badass like.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't break this thing right now."

"The explosion will vaporize anything within the school grounds. That means my sister and I along with you lot," Kneesocks answered.

'Oh right, _that_ reason,' Cravat mused. He was getting all climactic-level badass too. He saw a glint at the corner of his eye, and thankfully Lash-Out was a ways behind him. He clenched his fist tightly, shattering the orb and whatever power it had left within it.

It was simple really. He saw Chuck already speeding their way, with Brief's two arms outstretched towards the two Anarchy sisters. He would then make a break for Lash-Out, which was right behind them, just waiting for him to jump on and ride off quickly. The first part of the plan happened within moments.

Anarchy sisters are gone. Check. Time to get to Lash-Out. The ground beneath them already started to shift as a primal rumble emanated from beneath the school. He turned to the Daemon sisters.

"What will you two do after all this?" He asked over the crumbling landscape. G-Sting pulled over right beside them, the two demon-girls getting into their LSUV. Kneesocks answered back at him.

"Obviously we will no longer be able to return to how things were before. Plain and simple."

G-Sting sped away quickly.

"Right…"

He ran over to Lash-Out as the ground behind him started to fall, hopping over and onto it. He saw his escape route laid out before him. An obstacle course of sorts. He probably had a few more seconds to go.

"I guess the both of you have to stop pretending now…" Cravat gunned the throttle.

"Time to go back to reality."

_**Author's Notes: Many apologies for the lateness. Same reason, which would be school, basically. I make no promises as to how fast I can update anymore, but you can be sure it'll be there sooner or later, haha. Hope you all enjoyed this one, took bite-sized sessions over the course of about three months to complete XD**_


	11. Chapter 11 Sick Day Dreams

**Chapter 11 – Sick Day Dreams**

A scythe whiffed over his head as he got down to pick up a quarter. What? A lucky quarter's a lucky quarter. Cravat stood straight and looked to his front. Kneesocks charged him with a full-on battle-cry. He swung his right whip out in front of him. The trail of light crackled as it wrapped around Kneesocks' scythe. With one fluid motion, the scythe flew out of her hands, landing a ways behind Cravat. He tucked the quarter into the pocket of his trench-coat, the same one Kneesocks gave him as a uniform a long time ago. He didn't give any excuses on why he still wore it, even though school's been out for almost a month. After that explosion it would be a while – a _long_ while – before that place could be rebuilt. No more undercover shit. Just hunting Ghosts all-day-erry-day from now on. Of course, there was also the occasional slugfest with the Daemon sisters. It was one of those occasions right now.

"Can we not do this today Kneesocks? I've got a killer headache," he asked out as he sidestepped a swipe from Kneesocks' second scythe. Truth be told, he was feeling really sluggish. It's like someone put sticky-tack on his joints. They just didn't respond that quickly. He took a heel to the gut and flew across the asphalt. The highway was getting jammed from their little skirmish. A ways away, bullets and swords clashed. Panty was off having sex with god knows who right now, so Stocking was holding off Scanty. The goth girl deflected each shot with precision, sending the bullets right back to the older of the Daemon sisters, who wasn't letting anything get close. A stand-off with neither side was relenting. On Cravat's end however, he could feel the temptation of simply lying there and hoping Kneesocks would go away. She nearly cleaved his head off, which dispelled any illusion of that scenario ever happening.

"I recommend some aspirin," Kneesocks suggested before crashing down with her scythe. Battlefield-banter. It's somehow become a normal thing with the two of them. What's more, they're conversations seemed to be downright civilized, despite the events that were transpiring around them. "Or a Paracetamol."

Cravat awkwardly dodged another swipe at him and fell over. In moments, a scythe was at his throat. He groaned. Kneesocks adjusted her glasses with her free hand.

"Bah, this won't do," she muttered, dematerializing her scythe and offering him a hand. "There is no point in vanquishing an enemy in a state as pathetic as yours."

(Oh blah blah,) Cravat thought. He had cold sweat running down his neck. It helped relieve his migraine somewhat but his body still ached like a bitch. Felt like Jell-O too. (Mmmm… Jell-O…) Cravat took her hand and got up. How she kept her hand that soft and smooth was beyond his understanding. Extra-strength moisturizer, probably. "What does that make this… two-to-four?"

Him being the two, of course. Keeping track of a point where they could've finished each other off but didn't. Kind of like an I.O.U. thing. Kneesocks looked at him in disappointment. "Unfortunately yes. You have been quite the slacker lately," She said in a high-and-mighty tone.

"Well sorry for being sick."

"How could expect to best me if you cannot even protect yourself from a measly illness."

First of all, he didn't even know how this 'Race-to-10-wins-and-I-get-to-kill-you' deal started. And what was with her lecturing him all the time? Suggesting things that would be disadvantageous for your own side didn't seem like something a genius like Kneesocks would do. Then again, she's let him live for this long. She was weird that way.

"Remind me why you haven't killed me again…?"

Kneesocks shifted. "As a Demon I still take pride in the prey I destory. I merely do not want to be known as 'That Demon who defeated that Angel who looked like he was about to pass out from standing up.'"

"… I see." he merely agreed. He wasn't up for an argument. He could collapse right then and there but he had to keep face. Why? He didn't know himself. He just felt himself get conscious whenever he was fighting with her. Was his form okay? Did he hit her too hard? Did he look like an idiot when she almost chopped his arm off? Was she secretly judging him in every single way? He felt his vision get blurry. She put her hand on his forehead.

"You won't last very long in that state."

Bah, to hell with keeping face. Cravat dejectedly relented. Letting his muscles go slack, he fell backwards onto the pavement.

**-0-0-0-0-0-**

It's like someone dropped an entire island on his head. Sure, he's literally survived being blasted right into an island before without much fuss, courtesy of Scanty, but the point was it REALLY hurt right now. He tried to grasp at where he was. Skulls, stuffed-toys, darkness, and smelled like diabetes had sex with a sugar cane farm.

"Stocking's room…" or rather, his room as well. He was lying on his bed, still in his clothes from the fight. It must've been sometime in the evening judging from the moonlight shining through the windows. "Wonder where Stocking is…" As if on cue, she entered, clad in a towel. She must've taken a shower.

"You weigh a ton you know. Sheezus," she complained, cleaning out her ear with a cotton-bud. "Panty managed to distract them long enough for me to haul you back to See-Through."

Alone, Panty managed to hold off two Daemon sisters whilst he barely managed to match one. Wonderful. Just wonderful. He sat up, but it felt like the sky was sitting on him.

"I feel like crap."

"Other than you being worth that much, you seem to be draining your energy a little too much lately. Your powers will go haywire and fuck you up if you do that. I was throwing up for an entire week once."

When he thought about it, it was pretty interesting. No no, not the Stocking throwing up story, though that did make a peculiar mental image in his head. The goth girl was right there, wet and clad in a towel, in all her buxom glory, and she didn't mind. Well, this wasn't the first time. She seems to have been doing it frequently lately. Along with her hissy fits.

"You don't mind just standing there in a towel?" he asked passively.

"No, do you?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Then stop complaining." She stripped right then and there, revealing herself to him. She approached him, but even before she was close he shot up from his bed and pushed her down onto her own, parting her thighs with his right leg. Oh, but he knew better. He knew exactly what to ask. He wasn't an idiot. He was an idiot whose sickness was jacking his brain up.

"Another dream?"

She moaned provocatively. "Close," she wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him nearer to her. He could feel her breath, but he kept a straight face. She pushed her body right up to his. Well fuck it, poker face gone. Before he could say anything she put a finger on his lips.

"You're just hallucinating."

_Poof._

He found himself still sitting up, and looking at Stocking, the exact moment before she dropped her towel. (It always stops at the good part.)

Stocking walked forwards and out of his line of sight. "You look here and I will stab you," there was a slight hint of detest in her words.

"Wouldn't dream of it." He chuckled, albeit half-heartedly. As soon as Stocking gave him the green light, he laid back down. She loomed over him, examining him from head to toe. She was wearing baggy, dark-blue pajamas, which seemed like a size or two too big. The sleeves were almost past her hands. He was feeling pretty dizzy, but he felt her hand on his head.

"I doubt you'll be able to go on patrol with us tomorrow."

"Habit can go. She's been rearing to kick some Demon ass," he said almost absent-mindedly.

"And what if a Ghost winds up here? You'd die, idiot." her tone was a little sharp.

"I'll be fine, s'not like I can't fight…" he dismissed the beginnings of another rage session and tried getting up, but he just seemed so drained. "Feels like someone lodged cement blocks into my system."

"Bah, just get some damn rest. Whatever happened it's probably your fault anyway."

He wasn't listening anymore. He'd gone straight to dreamland, silent as the night. At least he was a heavy sleeper. Then Stocking did something she couldn't rationalize the reason for.

She kissed him on the forehead.

The excess energy he'd been exerting made his skin feel like a bed of hot coals. But he was warm. Maybe all this time all she wanted was to feel that kind of warmth again. It'd been a while since her fiancé had moved on. Was she trying to find someone? Could she? It didn't feel right replacing what she'd lost. But maybe… maybe Cravat could…

She shook her head violently. She wasn't about to degenerate into some stereotype. This is not a fucking… okay, that saying's been used too much. He wasn't even that attractive… sort of. He was more like a… puppy. Fine, she admitted, a relatively tolerable, relatively interesting, oblivious-to-a-fault puppy that peeved her to the point she thought about what it would be like to go dancing in the sheets with, but not anything to write home about. She'd lashed out at him in a quite a few times for the past few weeks and she didn't know why. Just a while ago she was almost about to start screaming at him again. She didn't want him to get close. It would hurt if she lost someone again. That's why she would get back what she lost.

She remembered her agreement. She climbed back into her bed, cursing at herself. She resigned herself to looking at Cravat, then imagining slicing his head clean off.

**-0-0-0-0-0-**

Fuckshit. First thought that came to his head. Fuck-shit-noisy-ass-birds-chirping-shit-fuck. Outside canaries or woodpeckers or whatever they were made noise like there was no tomorrow. Mornings with a migraine and you wake up to high-pitched animal calls. Not a good way to have a pleasant day. Each squeak rang in his ears, and he held his pillow to his head as he sat up, trying to blot out the noise as best he could. He got up, deciding he should wear something that was more comfortable. Stocking seemed to be gone. Must've gone out for patrol already. He groggily started making his way to the closet, which seemed to infinitely get farther and farther away with each pathetic stride. Actually, it was more like with each pathetic inch he dragged his feet along. Angels could short-circuit and feel like shit the next morning apparently. Who knew?

Shouldn't he have known? He wasn't exactly an expert on how everything worked. He just took them at face value. Holy weaponry? Check. Limited Invulnerability? Check. Ability to overload yourself? Apparently, check. Who was he to question the extremely complicated workings of a celestial being?

**(You know…)** A voice in his head started.

(Oh not you again.) Cravat managed to grab a change of clothes. A plain grey T-Shirt and some red shorts.

**(Yes me. You'll never get rid of me you know. By the way your migraines and whatever the hell else is painful for ya? My fault, sorry. Not really. You seem to have been needing a little extra oomph to keep me from taking over again haven't you?)**

(Yeah well thanks. Now we're both stuck taking a sick day. What the am I supposed to do for twenty-four damn hours?) In the name of all that is holy, what _was_ he going to do? He remembered the last time he was stuck at home all day because of a school holiday. The girls went off to pick up guys and shop. He was stuck at home, trying to play a console game or two, which he eventually got tired of. He read an entire novel, went to pace around the church nine or so times, and made himself a grilled macaroni and bacon cheese sandwich. And that was only during the morning.

**(Read a book.)**

(Already finished all of so and so and The Olympians novels.)

**(Even the last two?)**

(Well no, I don't own those yet. Plus those are called Heroes of Olympus) He wished he'd told Habit to grab a copy when they went to the bookstore a few weeks back. Now he was too lazy or too occupied to even attempt to acquire it.

**(Well, I'm out of ideas. You're on your own. I'll be here trying to wrest control again if you need me.)**

Thanks a lot. Interior monologues. Fun, but soon he would probably believe the other voice in his head was real.

**(That's because I AM real.)**

Whatever. To quote something he heard on T.V.: I'm a sociopath, I need to meet other people, I'm a schizophrenic, (Now in a deep raspy voice) I AM other people.

**(No, you're an idiot.)**

Thank you captain obvious. As he dismissed his other voice, he found himself already in front of the fridge. The heart wants what the heart wants. He opened it up and found an entire liter of mango puree, pristine and untouched. He called over to Garterbelt, who was busy preparing for lunch, if he could have the entire thing.

"Just don't make a mess," the big man said dismissively. Probably wasn't even paying attention. "Now where did I put those boxes of crickets I ordered…"

Cravat blinked. Looks like he would be ordering Fast Food for lunch. Not that he didn't like Garterbelt's cooking, but sometimes the guy experimented on things so much once he tried to feed all of them some Chocolate Covered Cockroach Bites with little black toppings he was pretty sure weren't chocolate chips. He popped open the lid of the mango puree and sat in front of the couch, listening to the news, flipping from channel to channel, eventually settling on National Geographic watching some apparently authentic videos of out-of-body experiences. Soon he found the bottle of puree empty, and Garterbelt was already prepping the microwave. It smelled of dead insects and hamster droppings. Or what he hypothesized was anyway. He felt his legs give way a little.

(Whoa…) Maybe he really should lie down for a while. He was pretty sure that whatever he had was going to make him fall right into a boiling pot of oil if he wasn't careful. He made his way back up the stairs and quietly closed the door behind him. Lunch could wait. He made his way to the nearest, softest looking thing and jumped it. In a matter of seconds, he was back in dreamland.

**-0-0-0-0-0-**

Well shit. He knew where he was. Darkness, all around, with invisible flooring. Back in his shattered mind. Nothing ever made sense when he visited, which was getting a little too often for comfort. The other guy(?) explained that this was supposed to be where Cravat saw his memories, but everything was blank. But he could remember things, so why didn't they show up here?

"**As I've explained to the umpteenth time, it's because this ain't your body. It's mine. Ever hear of Descartes? Mind – Body thing. Well, in a way I guess," **That voice again, from somewhere around him. Almost like his, but it was colder, more cynical.

"I think I've heard of Descartes. Philosophy classes at school. Interesting, but boring as hell," Cravat replied. A dark figure approached. It was him, almost exactly, except with bleached white hair and green eyes. Cravat(?) was looking worse for wear, with dark bags under his eyes and he looked a little thin. "What's wrong with you?"

Cravat(?) crossed his arms. **"To be blunt, I think I'm fading. S'what happens to your consciousness if you don't inhabit your own body or if something inhabits it with you. One minute you're trying to gain back control and the next, poof. You're gone and never again remembered." **Cravat(?) waved a motion in the air.** "You don't look too good either."**

A mirror materialized in front of him. Cravat had bags under his eyes too. It's like someone sucked fifteen pounds right out of him, his collarbones almost jutting out of his chest. "Well that's a disturbing sight."

"**It's not your real body you're seeing, but the state of your consciousness. On the outside, you're fine. But bodies were never hardwired to handle two inhabiting minds, even if the other one belongs to a Ghost," **Cravat(?) said simply. **"So right now we're both degenerating. Until one of us relents. Which probably won't be any time soon. Like I said, you're killing us both by not letting me get back to my body."**

"You keep saying 'Ghost'," Cravat started, swishing his hand through the mirror. It dissipated, and he was face-to-face with his other-self. "You're really trying to convince me I'm a Ghost aren't you?"

"**Considering you're still following that trail of conversation, you've already thought of the possibility of it, no?"**

Well, it was a little unnerving to be called a Ghost. Especially when every other Ghost you encounter calls you one, trying to 'get him back on the other side'. "Well if I'm a Ghost why am I here? I should be rampaging or something."

Cravat(?) let out a huge sigh. **"Look, it's either what you wanted to do before you died is possess someone and annoy the shit out of their mind, or you wanted to be someone else. Someone who's actually worth something, and believe me, when I look at your memories, you were pretty worthless compared to who you are now. Well, that and some Ghosts don't really rampage. Remember that goth girl's fiancé?" **

Cravat did, but he wanted to kind of forget. He was honestly… a little jealous. He could always go for Kneesocks, but seeing as they're both trying to kill each other every few days, that didn't seem plausible at the moment. Cravat(?) waved his hand again in front of him, and something like an LCD screen popped up. Something like a school insignia floated in the middle, something that felt very familiar. Cravat tried to wrap his head around where he'd seen this before, but every time he did, something inside him was screaming not to remember. There was a sting at the side of his head. His mind was fighting him head-on, not wanting him to even try.

_You're better off as you are now. Don't go digging up that past._

"**I'm not telling you outright what you were, it's more fun watching you realize and slowly fade. You know, just for kicks."**

Cravat dismissed the illusion again. "Seriously, who are you?" Cravat(?) paced around, keeping silent about it. After a few more moments, he looked like he had an explanation.

"**Clone, twin, poser, Doppleganger. Whatever you want to call me. I'm your 'what if', and you're mine. I got the sweet deal, while you lived a normal life. Look, I'm a little fuzzy on the details by now, can't think straight anymore. All I can manage to remember is if we ever meet, which we did, we both die. We're like two negatives. We cancel each out."**

Slowly, with the power of Algebra, it was starting to make some sense. Just a little. Cravat still didn't get why he was in someone else's body.

"So what happened to my old body? Or, rather, my real body?"

"**It's gone. Either that or it's waiting for your soul to reclaim it. Then again, most Ghosts that get purged or pass on peacefully never want to go back. They don't have anything keeping them here anymore. That's exactly why they move on in the first place." **They both felt a rumble, and their dark little world began to fall apart.

"**Looks like you've got some Ghosts to kill. Now wake up."**

Now wake up. Well he remembered that much. Ghosts… more things about Ghosts. He always heard and saw things whenever he went to sleep. He could never remember much after, like a little memory blockade just happened to pop open when he left his dream-world. Not that it was much of a world. All dark and empty… Well that's new. He could remember the world now too. And a face… a familiar face…

Cravat tried to get a feel for something. He felt better, a lot better than this morning. It was probably late afternoon by now, judging by the sky. Recharged, he got up and stretched. He heard a rumble outside. He saw various shapes in the distance. One of them was obviously a Ghost, a relatively large bull, rampaging through the highway, destroying most of the cars in its path. Casualties were piling up.

"I better get over there."

**-0-0-0-0-0-**

Well this was bullshit. Ho ho, she made a pun. That thing was rampaging through the highway like nobody's business. The thing wouldn't stop either. Whatever its beef was – wow she was on a roll today – with anything and everything, it wasn't about to let a bunch of Angels and a human to ruin its fun. Panty swooped right in front of it, her red, one-piece dress flaring out like a matador's cape. Toro, bitch, I fucking dare you.

The Ghost got the message. It flared its nostrils, or whatever remotely looked like it anyway, and readied to charge. Panty shot at it, but it used its horns to deflect her bullets away from their otherwise dead-on flight path. The bull rose on its haunches, before slamming down. It didn't charge, it just created a shockwave strong enough it sent the blonde flying across the pavement. She cursed under her breath, picking herself up and began running towards the bull. Now she was the one being led on. The Ghost jumped up high, obviously it didn't look like it could but it did anyway, and swerved itself back down to earth, its horns combining into one menacing, spiraling drill, heading right towards Panty as if she had a gigantic target sign on her, which she kind of did. Panty dove at the last second, the bull barely grazing her, just taking a little nick out of her dress. Whatever was barely covering her before now acted like a coincidental censorship bar. Whenever she flipped in the air it didn't matter anyway, so it was kind of moot.

Habit went for her throwing knives, ripping the side of her skirt for easier access, and got four in each hand. She let loose a first volley, which managed to snag the bull's broad back as it tried to remove its horns from the sizable hole it'd created when it missed Panty. The bull managed to break free from the concrete, and charged Habit, its eyes flaring with newfound rage.

"PENETRATE EVERYTHING!" it shouted.

For some reason most of the Ghosts they've fought have had sexual undertones to it. Habit nimbly jumped up, using the bull's back as a landing. Had it been weakened? Those knives at its back seemed to be sapping the strength out of it. Then, its one eye went dark. Not suddenly, it felt something pierce through. A dagger found its way through its eye-socket, and blood as black as night sprayed out. In brightest day, in blackest night~

Unfortunately the bull was now raging mad. It overcame the weakness the holy knives had been working on it. It felt the need to penetrate anything and everything and anyone. It's drill-horn spun wildly, and it grew even more of them out of its body. It began shooting spinning drills everywhere, along with its already annoying charging and shockwave slams, which seemed to sprout drills now too.

"Well fuck this we can't even get close," Panty spat, taking refuge behind a few piled up cars.

"Sorry, it seemed like a good idea to keep stabbing it," Habit apologized, barely avoiding a drill as it flew over their heads. Stocking was nowhere to be seen. "Stocking?" Habit called out.

The goth seemed to have an idea, because she readily launched herself through the air, using each and every drill that flew at her as a stepping stone to get to her target. Panty had crazy-ass firepower, Socking had amazing acrobatic skill. If they were up to full power, none of that would've mattered, but right now they had their limitations, and Panty couldn't muscle her way through this one. Stocking leapt through gracefully, almost getting impaled on more than one occasion, but she concentrated enough to get close. Dangerously close. If you've ever learned anything about Science, there's this quaint little thing called entropy. In summary, it's basically a law that a system will eventually fuck up. Okay, so that's used for thermodynamics, but hell, it's applicable to anything.

After all those beautifully executed feints and lunges, she fucked up. A drill was a little too out of her reach, and she tried to go for it. She barely nicked it, and she tripped up, falling towards the demon. She was trying to get into a position above it, and just quickly stab its still-exposed back, but no dice. She was falling right into a pit of spinning doom. Then she felt lighter. Something had wrapped itself around her body, and pulled her, almost violently, away from her death, slightly shocking her in the process as well. She couldn't complain. Being the masochist that she was, she practically welcomed it. Who could have given her such euphoria at a time like this?

'Oh you have got to be fucking with me,' she thought through an involuntary and disturbingly pleasured moan. She looked at her body. Those distinctive trails of light, that mild electricity that flowed through. Ghost Kiras. He just had to play hero. He set her down beside him, looking at her with a 'Seriously? With my whips? Seriously?' kind of expression.

"I didn't ask for your damn help!" she shouted. Cravat retracted his whips quickly. The friction it caused on her made her moan involuntarily again. He raised his eyebrows.

"Wow. Just wow."

"Fuck this I'm killing that son of a bitch right now. Shouldn't you be, like, resting or some shit?"

Good to see you too. Oh and no problem, I just saved your life, but okay. "I feel better. Plus it looked like you needed help."

"Yeah well fuck you," she lashed out again. What was up with her? Here we go again. She was lashing out at him. Her face was hot from his little rescue act. She'd pretty much remained celibate since that New Year's thing. Maybe she just needed a good fuck. Too much pent up sexual frustration. Whatever it was, she was getting crankier and crankier. She didn't need it to be Cravat, for all she cared she could go with Panty, hook up with some guy, and call it a day, but he was an immediate resource. That and he was really fucking good with those whips, even if it was involuntary.

"Did you catch Panty's swear-bug or something? Is that contagious?"

"Just stand the hell back, I've got a Ghost to mess up," Stocking stood, with fire in her cyan eyes. Well okay, Ms. PMS, whatever you say.

"Okay, geez," he noticed it too, that she was getting pretty aggressive towards him. Whatever it was on her mind she never told him, and it always ended with her huffing away, her fine little ass swaying provocatively as she did. Involuntary, voluntary, whatever the hell, it was getting pretty distracting. He was forgiving, sure, but even he had his limits, metaphorically and physically speaking. If that hallucination showed him something, it was that he was at his breaking point. He wasn't the one being pushed around. He was on top of her, and he was ready to take point. But right now he would relent. He would stand back like a good boy.

It's a good thing he did. Whatever got into her, she channeled it so well it was scary. You can't really explain the massacre that happened. Drills, hundreds of drills, all redirected, all at once, along with a pretty vicious overhand slash. The bull looked like a mutilated beehive, bleeding profusely, begging to be put out of its misery. Stocking obliged, obviously, but not before having a little fun gutting it. Cravat didn't know you could even do that to a Ghost. Its throes of despair reached far along the city, and two would-be assailants decided now was not a good time to go into a duel with the Angels. They all got home that evening, banged up, exhausted, but two heavens richer. They all sat around the dinner table, poking at scraps of chocolate crickets and buttered newts. Panty decided she wouldn't go and pick up guys tonight. It's been like that lately. Ghosts have been getting stronger. Not enough time to just pick a guy up and fuck him all night long. The one guy who _was _near enough was trying to avoid sexual relations with his teammates. Of course, right about now it was nearing its tipping point where a sexy goth girl was concerned.

"What's up with you lately?" he asked from across the table. She tried to avoid eye-contact, focusing on stabbing the cricket which still seemed to be alive as it kept avoiding her fork. He followed her eyes relentlessly with his own, until he managed to lock them in place.

"Just buzz off would you?" she finally stabbed it, and ate the entire thing whole. Chocolate is chocolate.

"If you don't share your feelings it's going to gnaw at you from the inside out you know," he said coolly as he finished his roasted grasshopper. Stocking slammed her fist on the table, startling everyone.

"Why do you care so fucking much?" she meant it to sound a lot more aggressive, but it sounded like she was begging to know the answer. Don't let her down, she whispered in her mind. Please.

"Do I honestly need a reason?" he said, trying to keep his tone normal. "I just do."

"Not good enough, asshole."

"Dammit Stocking!" he stood up. He didn't know he even had that tone of voice. It kind of scared him. She was shocked too, but she couldn't show it. Enough of the calm approach bullshit, he thought. If he was going to get an answer he was getting it the hard way. He went around the table and grabbed her by the wrist, dragging her away, just outside the dining room. "You are starting to annoy the hell out of me! Now tell me, right to my face. What. The hell. Is wrong?"

Stocking looked at him. He had a crazed expression. She didn't know he was even capable of that. For as long as she'd known him, she didn't know this side. He never showed this side.

She was scared. Scared she might lose him if she tried to take things too far.

That fear slowly turned into anger again. Why do you want to know so much? Just stop it dammit! It all started when she was beginning to realize, all that time ago, she saw him with Kneesocks, on more than one occasion. How happy he looked. How she wasn't the one he was happy to be with. That Daemon girl and Cravat had gotten close. Closer than she wanted them to be. It wasn't fair. She lost her fiancé, the first one she's genuinely cared about in a long time, while he got to keep his… what was it, probably a happy crush or something? Even if they're trying to kill each other? What the hell kind of logic was that? Then she realized, she wasn't angry at Cravat. She was jealous of Kneesocks. She wanted to be her. She wanted to make him smile. She wanted to feel like someone wanted her again. Try as she might, the oblivious bastard never got the message. So she became angry again. Angry at herself, angry at Cravat, whomever whenever wherever. She just needed to vent. It was selfish, sure, but she didn't care. She was sick, in a way.

"Well?" He asked again. He was calming down.

Stocking stayed silent. She decided, then and there, on something drastic. Something that might make him forget all about Kneesocks. Even if it didn't, maybe if she did what she was about to do, she would finally get some peace of mind. He might even hate her if it didn't work, but if it did, it would be a load off, in more ways than one. Maybe it really just was sexual frustration. She started to drag him upstairs towards their room while the other three watched like moviegoers to a horribly scripted drama. As she got through the doorway she flung him over to her bed, and he barely got his balance back. She nimbly locked the door and went up to him, tiptoeing so she was almost face-to-face with him. "You know what? I hate you, that's what's wrong. You pry on everything I do like it's your damn business, so stop prying and then maybe I'll stop being so damn moody all the time!"

Where the hell did that come from? "Are you saying it's my fault?"

"Yeah, I'm saying it's your fault, what are you, deaf?" She stuck her tongue out at him. He hated it when people were being irrational. She pushed him down on the bed and went on top of him. "You're…!" she started shaking him. Real tears were streaming down her cheeks. She was starting to relieve some stress, one way or the other. "Stupid stupid stupid!"

"You're acting like a damn kid!" he flipped her over, he was on top now. He pinned her arms to the bed. "Would you calm down for a sec?"

"I'm not hearing anything lalalalala~"

"DEAR GOD!" He was about to snap. He was really close to it. She was being an immature little bitch. She kicked him in the gut, wriggling free from his grasp. He rolled off her, gasping for breath.

She started to undo her clothes. She was still in her usual black Lolita outfit, albeit torn up from the battle. She only half-undid it, leaving on the blouse underneath, her panties, and her stockings. She mounted him again, and Cravat saw what she'd done.

"Wh-what the hell are you doing?"

"WE'RE GOING TO HAVE ANGRY SEX AND YOU ARE GOING TO LIKE IT." she tried to sound angry, but there was ever a slightness of anticipation in her voice.

"DEAR LORD IS THAT WHAT YOU WANTED ALL ALONG?" he shouted frantically. Okay, fine, he'd call her bluff. He flipped her over, so her back and her ass were facing him and he pinned her down with one hand as he frantically undid the buttons on his coat. He barely got his coat off before she managed to wriggle free and mount him again. Do a barrel roll!

"JUST SO YOU KNOW I'M A VIRGIN OKAY?" he shouted, involuntarily. Wow she was taking this bluff far. He was getting a little nervous. Pinch pinch. Nope, not waking up. Not yet anyway.

"NOT WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU!" she shouted back, her face flushed and red. This was fucking embarrassing. Then she noticed something. Where were his… "Oh dammit…"

She got flipped over again, and this time, Cravat tied her hands and feet with his Ghost Kiras. Not the most glorious of roles they've played in his life, but hey. Dream or not, he wasn't going to be on the bottom this time. They were both probably sick on something. She was sick in the head, he was sick of being pushed around. He tied her at the ankles, so he had enough room to slip between her legs, in one awkward motion, so he was right on top of her, face-to-face. Hi there, I will be your partner tonight, please try to act as if you're enjoying it so it won't bruise my ego, thank you for your patronage. He wiped the tears off her cheeks. She looked at him.

And she genuinely smiled. That set him off.

Was it the adrenaline? Probably the adrenaline, because before he knew it his hands were roaming all over her, and he had her in a lip-lock. She tried to muffle her moans, but she wasn't doing a bang up job.

Puns. Hell yeah.

After a while, it occurred to him. Holy shit, this isn't a dream. This is really happening. If it was a dream, don't let him wake up.

DO NOT.

WAKE HIM UP.

He pulled back. Her face was red and flustered, her eyes a little glazed over and trying to grasp at what sanity she had left going for her. He probably wasn't doing any better. "I hope you're prepared for the consequences." He said sternly, looking at her with intent so clear he had crazy eyes going. She had to bite back a whimper before responding, with all the confidence in she could muster, which was still a lot, everything considering.

"Bring it, bitch."

_**Author's Notes: Soooo, another late update. But yeah, I had fun with this one. Wink wink. Nudge nudge. Ish ish. Yeaaah. Might make another chapter in the middle of the week, who knows. I'm on sem break, anything can happen. At the same time, maybe nothing. Blech. Thank you to all those who've reviewed. It's appreciated~**_


	12. Chapter 12 He Thought About It

**Chapter 12 – He Thought About It**

At one point Cravat managed to tie Stocking up in 'that' way. He was pretty sure he would be careful not to accidentally snag her during a fight. If he did she'd to go down faster than Panty would on a lucky night out. Of course an Angel suddenly letting out sexual gasps and moans while engaging in deadly combat might be enough to disturb the basheezus out of anyone or anything, but he'd rather not test out that theory. Somewhere along the line Stocking began to playfully taunt him and his sexual prowess, which as far back as he could remember, he didn't have until that night yet anyway. She quieted down (rather, was left 'speechless', save for the gasps and the whimpers) about it as soon as he started tightening the grip his Ghost Kiras had on her, along with some other things she'd taught him (after a few minutes of awkward instruction giving). He learned quickly, and as things moved along he got some rep for improvisation. Since they both had crazy endurance, their little session went on through the night. Once it was all over, their bet ended in a tie. Let the imagination determine whatever their bet was, because they didn't really go into specifics. Something about who could do what to who and how many times.

They both laid flat on their backs, staring at the ceiling of Stocking's canopy bed. Cravat noticed that you seem to become aware of the little things when you're tired. Little ruffles on the drapes, little gilded designs along the upholstery, and the not-so-little pair of breasts that were to his right. He looked at his partner. She was trying to get her poise back together, which was slowly and strategically shattered over the past few hours. Taking deep heavy breaths, she managed a slightly-crazed grin. "Pretty good for a virgin."

"Gee, thanks."

He scooted over a little then used her chest as a pillow. Better than any pillow he'd ever slept on by a long shot. He grabbed bunch of her hair started to play with it. She found some entertainment herself in twirling some of his messy brown hair around her finger. "You sleepy yet?"

"A little I guess," after this everything would go back to normal, he thought. He wasn't expecting anything more. This was a one night thing, he thought to himself. One extremely awesome night. "So are you okay now?" he asked. He began tying her hair like shoelaces. He tried making some rope knots with it, but he realized if it got tangled enough she'd kill him.

"… yeah, I'm fine." Stocking twirled his hair some more. She'd let out her steam, all those pent up emotions and sexual desires that accumulated into one, big, cloud of smog in her system. At least one of her theories was right. She really didn't want another relationship as of yet. One night stands. She was just as capable of it as Panty was. "Listen…"

"I know."

"You do?"

"No strings attached, right?"

Cravat was pretty perceptive when he wanted to be. She was half-expecting him to be mushy and awkward about the entire thing, but he didn't, which kind of made_her_ awkward. Maybe she really underestimated him too much. He started tracing her stomach with his finger, making her stifle a laugh. Getting a hold of herself, Stocking wrapped her arms around Cravat, bringing him in for a hug. His face was right up against her assets, but neither of them complained. "You're one hell of a..." she paused for a second, as if trying to figure out the best way to describe him.

"Here comes the friend-zone." He said jokingly, his voice a little muffled. She flicked his forehead and laughed.

"We've got until morning. I think I can make it 'with benefits' until then. I'm pretty sure you don't have any complaints."

She was referring to that something pressing up against her leg again. Round… what was it? Bleh, didn't matter. Cravat got up and loomed over her. She didn't look like an almighty being, menacing and powerful. She looked like a normal girl, pretty and sweet, but with doubts and issues which were just lifted off her shoulders, if only a little.

She eyed him uneasily. He'd been there just staring at her for a good half-minute. "Cravat?"

He blinked. "Did you just call me by my real name?"

A conceited smile slowly crept onto her features. "Just this once, I think you've relatively earned it," she told him. He pondered for a second, and then he lowered his head to whisper into her ear.

"I'll make sure you'll be saying it a lot more later."

She felt her entire body shudder. He started to caress her, his left hand tracing lines again around her body ever so lightly. The mood was different this time, and so was her reaction. He lowered his face toward hers, and he could feel her breathing become ragged as he continued to be a tease. That's right woman, the student's getting better. His left hand was circling just above her thighs.

"You've become… full of yourself, haven't you…?" She asked haughtily, her lips inches away from his. "Time's a wasting, don't you think…?"

He caressed her cheek with his right hand and brushed his lips lightly against hers. "Getting impatient? Maybe I'll make you wait for it…" he said softly. It made her shudder again. She seemed to be doing that a lot. The bastard was good at mind games, she'd give him that much. His left hand was still hovering around the area above her thighs, slowly and, figuratively speaking, painfully travelling down. With a sudden movement, she gasped. His hand had jolted to its mark. Fuck, maybe she taught him a little too well. "Just kidding~"

"You're such an ass," she managed a pleasured smirk.

For the last time in what would probably a long while, if ever, he let his emotions take him, and she did the same. They didn't follow any common logic. He knew she was just using him to relieve herself, but he didn't mind. She felt a little guilty about the entire thing, but didn't say anything about it. So they let it slide, having a weird, unsaid understanding with one another. Whatever it was they felt, whether it was lust, love, either or, neither nor, even if it was just a tiny speck, it was enough. It was something primal, chaotic, and nonsensical.

But it felt pretty damn good.

**-0-0-0-0-0-**

"Rise and shine my little rabbits~!" Panty, clad in her nightgown, sing-songed. She tried to rip the sheets from the bedding, exposing the two sleepy figures from under the covers. Cravat was lying on his back with his arms over his head, and Stocking was on her side with one arm across his chest and her right leg wrapped around both of his. Cravat groggily managed to grab hold of the sheets at the last second, and was staring at Panty like a hawk.

"At least let me get some clothes on…" he said, yanking the covers back.

"Aw, but I want to see you naked too," the blonde explained, a very disturbing grin was tugging at her features. "C'mon, let me see what you're packing down there~"

Cravat went to grab hold onto one of his Ghost Kiras at the side of the bed and restrained Panty with it. The whip crackled as it wrapped around the blonde, shocking her and making her yelp a little. She tried to find some balance, and fell dejectedly backwards onto one of the walls. The tip rested on her cheek like a snake, which she found unnerving.

"Why Stocking likes this kind of thing, I will never understand," she tried breaking free, actually she could with little effort, but she was too damn lazy. Cravat got a pillow and covered his lower regions as he got his boxers and put them on, then reached for another few pieces of clothing.

"You should've seen her face last night, it was like-" before he managed to finish that sentence, he felt a disturbing presence behind him. A glowing bright blue katana was already at his throat.

"My face was like what now, Otakun?" the Goth said slowly and evilly. Well at least she's back to normal. She was still shamelessly naked, but by now he didn't even try to act like he minded anymore.

"Nothing, ma'am," he said, carefully pushing the tip of her sword and aiming it somewhere else. From her little corner of the room, Panty laughed.

"Don't worry, we've had 'group outings' together before, I know what you're talking about."

Well that was a disturbing thought. Cravat, too lazy to put on a shirt, noticed Panty was still restrained. He retracted his whips slowly, and the tip lightly grazed her ear. Then she let out one sexy moan. Cravat stopped retracting and looked at her with 'Dear god not you too' written on his face. Panty managed to stick her tongue out at him.

"Let's keep that a secret among the three of us shall we? Well, technically, four… or ten… or…"

He just nodded, and retracted his whip again, until she was finally free. She dusted herself off, before launching herself at Cravat, pinning him down on Stocking's bed. Déjà vu.

"Oh hell no," he laughed nervously. No he wasn't laughing, but he really was nervous. Stocking he managed to handle, but someone like Panty… neither his body nor his soul is ready. Why the hell were these women so damn strong? If Stocking could manage to flip him over, Panty could theoretically suplex him into submission.

"Stocking, you mind?" Panty asked mischievously. She had that glint in her eye, one playful, maniacal glint. Her sister was already standing grabbing her towel from her closet. She didn't even glance back.

"I guess not, just don't be too rough on him," she chuckled.

Stocking walked out of the room, stretching and yawning about bath time. As she did, Panty got up off of Cravat and offered him a hand. He accepted it cautiously, and got up on his feet. When he stood up straight, she flicked him on the forehead. More déjà vu. The two of them really are sisters.

"You would not believe what kind of whining that little bitch does. You just saved me another round of 'how annoying and unbearable Otakun is'."

"Er, you're welcome?"

Panty shifted a little, tapping her foot repeatedly with her hands behind her back. "So you're fine with this? Not going for the whole 'together forever and ever amen' thing?"

Cravat felt a little smile coming on. He would if could, well, sort of, he wasn't really sure either, but he knew he couldn't replace Stocking's fiancé. As an honorary bro, even if he'd never talked much to the guy, he would not steal away a woman from her dead fiancé. Did that make sense? It did in his head, so who cares.

"She's back to normal. I'm fine with that. Besides, I don't want things to get awkward if, you know, relationship complications, yadda yadda, might suddenly leave me to die while fighting a Ghost, etcetera…" he managed a laugh.

Panty blinked. Well at least he's not bawling over it like she expected. Maybe she underestimated him a little too much. She wondered if Stocking did the same. "You're a fucking idiot," she said, then stood on her tiptoes before giving him a light peck on the cheek. "But at least you're sweet."

"Er, thanks?" he said. He won't deny it; he felt his face heat up a little. That was the last thing he'd expect from someone like Panty, the almighty sex-goddess. Giving him an innocent kiss without expecting the full-course in return? Someone must have divided by zero. Panty realized she was still in her nightgown and went off to take a bath herself, leaving Cravat to tidy up the room.

(These sheets…) he mused. (I'm either going to burn them or we're going to have to put it on extra-strength swirling… with lots and lots of bleach, ammonia, detergent, and…) he straightened up the pillows and carried the 'dirty' bedding to the laundry room, located on the first floor of the tower where their rooms were situated. Habit was there, who seemed to be doing some laundry of her own.

"Yo," he called out, setting the sheet on one of the washing machines. She turned to him with a shaky smile and big googly eyes. Wow that was freaky.

"S-SO I HEARD YOU HAD SEX!" she shouted, her voice cracking a little. Okay, getting freakier. If there's one thing that'll make you feel awkward about a situation it was a girl in a nun's outfit proclaiming out loud, to the world, no holds barred, just saying, for the first time, you had intimate contact with the opposite gender. She ran up to him and gave him a bear hug. Why the hell do all the women in this house have the strength of a ten mythical creatures? She broke away, her shaky smile turning into a pout.

"Why didn't you a-accept my offer before, now you're no longer pure enough to s-sleep with this holy maiden," she gestured dramatically. He just laughed, and ruffled her hair. There was something about how she was talking though… was she stuttering? Maybe she was nervous. He went up to her and decided to mess with her head a little.

"If you'd like…" Cravat went up to her in one swift motion, cupping her face in his hand and pushing her against the washing machine. Laundry-room sex. Was that a sort of play? "I could take you up on that offer."

Habit frantically pushed Cravat away. Normally that would have been a playful gesture, but she pushed him hard, as in he had to flail a little to regain his balance. Her head dipped, and he couldn't see her expression through her red bangs that covered her face. She was shaking like a leaf.

"Hey, it was just a joke Habit…"

Habit walked up to him, resting her head and her hands on his chest. Something at the back of his mind prompted him to give her a comforting hug. She started to speak slowly.

"You… y-you'd never hurt me, right?" she asked sincerely. It was an odd setting, the laundry machines humming in the background while something this dramatic was going on. He had to wonder though, where did _that_ question spawn from. He'd never seen her like this before. The last time she'd even stuttered was… that time, after they first met, and she even asked the same question.

He gently stroked her hair to try and calm her down. She liked that. He'd done the same thing before. But why was this coming up again after all this time? It seemed so long ago now. She slowly let go, and rubbed her eyes because of what looked like tears almost flowing out. She put on the best smile she could.

"I'm hungry, wanna go eat?"

Cravat smiled. "I'll just finish the laundry."

**0—0—0—0—0 **

The dark sky loomed above me. It was either late in the evening or some time past midnight, I couldn't really tell. Okay, recall. My name is Cravat. I'm a fallen Angel. I was sent to Little Tokyo to collect Heavens so I could receive absolution and gain access back to Heaven itself. Right? That makes sense. So why does it sound weird when I say it to myself? The first thing I remember after being kicked out of… Heaven is winding up in this alley… what date was it? I can't remember. I got up onto my feet. My clothes were a little ripped up. Does that happen when you get flung back to Earth? Probably. I didn't ponder on it. As I walked down the alley it sort of sent off this weird vibe, like I've been here before. I rounded a corner and found a little church-like hovel. Must be where I'm supposed to head to.

It wasn't anything to write home about, but I guess it looked cozy. There was a kitchen and two bedrooms, a dining room, basically the bare essentials you'd need for living here. I walked into one of the rooms and found weapons all over the place. Knives, hatchets, daggers, anything pointed or sharp, this room had it. I know it isn't very polite to look into other people's stuff, but no one else seemed to be around, so I let my curiosity lead me for the moment. I cautiously opened the drawers beside the bed and found clothes. Okay, no shit, but the clothes looked like they were for a nun. It looked like their uniform, but when I laid it on the bed it seemed a little… more revealing than what a nun usually wears, the skirt anyway. There was a long slit that went all the way from the hem, kind of like a Chinese Qipao, except the top part was an exact replica of a nun's outfit. I went over to inspect the closet, and there were a bunch of leather straps and these weird cylindrical things with switches scattered around, along with a bunch of clothes that looked like it was for lazing around at home all day. That and there were a bunch of silky and frilly lingerie strewn about, so I guessed this room belonged to a woman. Whoever that was, she wasn't here today, or right now anyway.

I know a lot of the basic things on Earth, but I've never really experienced them…

At least, I think.

Yeah, that sounds about right. I walked to another room, and found one of those 'computer' things. Now this is what really had me wondering. Back in Heaven, they said humans used this to communicate with each other and play electronic games on it. However they did it, I didn't know, and I was a little too afraid to find out. I might end up blowing the place sky-high. I decided to leave it alone for now. I probably won't use it much anyway. Now that I got a good look around the room, it felt… familiar, like it belonged to me. I spotted a mirror to the side. I saw my reflection, dark-brown messy hair, auburn eyes. For some reason I imagined myself with white hair and piercing green-ish eyes, like I'd looked like that once before. Didn't ring a bell though. I reached for these two tie-looking things on my neck. I had two of them on, one on top of the other. Odd, I thought. I knew I should've been a little more concerned I found things about myself odd, but I just didn't mind. It was a little unnerving, but I never pursued the feeling. I dismissed it and walked around a bit more.

The living room was modest, but it was pleasant. I sat down on a couch and pointed humans called a remote at the 'television'. I clicked the big red button. It's always the red button isn't it? In a flash the machine hummed to life, and it was on what looked like a news channel.

"Following a string of strange deaths lately, a young man was found dead in this alleyway not too long ago. Signs of death however are different from the previous victims, who were, according to sources, were eaten by some strange animal. Cause of death to this particular individual is still inconclusive-" I flipped the channels. Humans just reek of death. It's like a big beacon that's saying *KILL MEH!*

Animal Planets, National Geography, Playhouse Dizny, it's a freaking multitude of different kinds of shows all in one little box. Even anime, which I thought I might like, but wasn't sure why. There goes that feeling again. I pretty much got bored after flipping through Higgly Town Heroes for the umpteenth time, so I turned the little box of magic off and decided to take a little stroll through the neighborhood. I got off the couch and straightened myself out, then headed straight for the door. As I opened it, I felt my senses go into overdrive. There was something here, watching me. How I knew, I inferred it was my Angel reflexes kicking in. I could just sense a malevolent presence. I waited to see if it would do anything.

…

Nothing. Wherever it was, it's gone now. I looked around cautiously just to be sure, and headed out. As I walked out of the alley that lead to the church, I noticed people on my right. There was a commotion. I noticed a bunch of people with camera equipment, and a newscaster. Wasn't that the guy from T.V.? I walked towards the scene but then something in my gut tugged hard to move away from the scene. It was that murder I saw about ten minutes ago on T.V. I tried to get a good look at the corpse, but my body wouldn't let me.

_Don't._

Going on my gut feeling, I turned away after I'd glimpsed. Was it just me or…?

…

Of course not, that would be stupid.

So here I am, patrolling the streets, waiting for anything to happen. Anything at all. Random explosion here or there maybe, some freaked out civilians, and a Ghost or two. I didn't know when, but at some point I'd be able to kill my first Ghost. It made me feel tingly inside from anticipation. I wandered off around the city. Almost all the buildings were ashen gray, like an old-timey movie, where everything was had a monochrome shade. None of them even seemed to have varying height or width, like the architect got bored and decided to copy and paste each and every building to save time and space. People walked up and down the streets with an expression that read 'Yeah, you'll be here for the rest of your life'. Almost all of the buildings were for business too. No malls, no arcades, no nothing. Sheezus it's boring here. I put my hand in my pocket and felt a metallic object against my skin. A pocket watch. Huh, didn't know I had one. It was almost midnight.

"I think I should get some shut eye…" I spoke to no one in particular. I started to back track along the rectangular streets and alleys of Little Tokyo back to the alleyway from whence I came. I stopped, feeling a presence behind me. I turned around and grabbed onto whatever part of my assailant I could. My hands landed on what felt like shoulders… that belonged to a petite girl in a nun's outfit.

"Can I… help you?" I asked. She wasn't responding, she was just staring blankly at me, like a deer that saw the headlights of an oncoming car. I tried tapping her shoulders a little. Still nothing. She just put one of hands on mine. Okay, well this is awkward. "Hello…?"

I had this weird feeling of attraction. It was weird. Not like love at first sight, but more of… I've felt her touch before. Somewhere in an obscure corner of my mind, something felt like it stabbed itself into me. Quick as it came, it left, and pieces of information flooded into my head. This was Habit, the higher ups, they…

_I was told to meet her when I came to Earth. She is my guardian. She will be the one to help me hunt Ghosts._

_Right… that was it… silly of me to forget…_

"Habit?" I called out. I looked into her eyes as she muttered something under her breath.

… _worked._

I just caught the last word, but I wasn't too sure even with that; I was still occupied with looking at those crimson red orbs. I noticed her body was trembling, either from the cold night air or something else. Then she just rested her head on my chest and her hood fell back, revealing her orange, neck-length hair. A timid redhead was delicately resting herself on me. I reacted quite calmly, which was heating up like a kettle on a stove and tensing up like I had a full body cramp.

"W-what are you doing, um, Ms. Habit?" I tried to sound calm. I heard myself. That wasn't calm. That just screamed 'virgin'. She looked up at me, with a questioning glance, before looking like she'd remembered that I was a complete stranger. Or acting like I was one anyway.

"C-call me Habit…" she said in a squeaky tone. Well that was adorable. "I-I'll be your g-guardian from now on. Please treat…" she hesitated before she continued. "… treat me gently."

There was something about how she said it that made it very awkward, but I just dismissed it. She rested her head on my chest again and spoke into it, her voice getting muffled. I was pretty sure my face right now was slowly mutating into a twitching tomato. She spoke again, snapping me out of my trance.

"You… you'd never hurt me, right?"

It was an odd question to ask. "Huh?"

"Promise me, you'll n-never hurt me…!" her voice was hushed, but it cracked a little.

Normally someone would question whatever the hell she was talking about. But it didn't seem unnatural. It felt like I even had a debt to her, something that would take a lifetime to repay. All these weird impromptu feelings… where the hell did they come from?

"Okay, okay, I promise," I said. For some reason, one could call it instinct, I began stroking her hair. She seemed to be calming down a little.

"I-I like being stroked there…" she said.

Innuendoes. Wonderful. I don't know how long we stayed there, under the streetlamp which seemed a little romantic dramedy cliché to me.

Oh well.

**0—0—0—0—0 **

"Now that I think about it…" Cravat whispered to himself. The group had finished eating breakfast already and were about to go on patrol around the city. "What did Habit mean by that back then…?" A sharp pain ran through his skull. He knew the drill. The moment he closed his eyes he was in his little dark space again. This time he remembered it. The space was starting to shed some light on its surroundings. It looked like… a room? No, it seemed to constantly shift. One moment it was a room, the next, a field of some sort, an entranceway, a yard. It continued to cycle as he saw his 'other' move toward him.

"**You were horrible with women back then," **Cravat(?) said. He crossed his arms and began to lean on a wall, which flickered in and out into a tree, a lamppost… you get the idea.

"What's up with this place?"

"**To satisfy your obviously inadequate intelligence," **Cravat(?) started as-a-matter-of-factly. **"You're losing grip on the reality that you made for yourself. Now this world is going haywire with memories of both your new life and your old life. Just saying."**

Cravat stayed there, just trying to look at the glimpses that passed him. A school, a house, a condo... Sometimes there were people, but their faces were always obscured. Then there were the clearer pictures, the memories of Stocking, Panty, Kneesocks… and then the ones with Habit. But some of them didn't seem right. Some of them he could remember from their time in Little Tokyo, but some… seemed off. She looked scared. There were glimpses of her naked figure sometimes, just curled up on a bed, motionless… Cravat(?) began to speak.

"**Oh, sorry about that, those are mine. They're getting mixed up in yours."**

Uh huh, Cravat thought. He started to not care anymore. He didn't care he was living a life that wasn't his. If he really did die and become a Ghost, then maybe he wanted something. Maybe, in those last, few throes of life he had in him, he thought about not appreciating his old life, and he wanted it back. It might've been that. Maybe it was something else entirely. What kind of regret did he have that he managed to posses the body of an Angel? Whatever it was, if he wanted to keep things like this, he couldn't let his last regret be rectified. If it did, he would disappear. This life that he's found, it would all vanish.

"Some things…" Cravat started. Cravat(?) raised his eyebrows, wondering what his other was about to say. "Some things can be left forgotten, right?"

"**What the hell are you talking about?"**

Cravat shifted. He faced his other self's piercing emerald eyes with his own. He's seen those eyes before, that stark white hair. It was in that mirror in the room. His room. "The past is the past. I'm here right now. I don't need my past. I can throw it away for all I care."

Cravat(?) sighed. **"Whatever. The past is the past, sure. But it's always going to catch up to you. One way or another. All this hostile take-over shit is getting me beat anyway. I'll bide my time. Your time'll be over soon enough." **He turned around, walking away. He called out one last time. **"When it is, I'll take back what's mine."**

The world slowly crumbled again. Cravat felt like he was letting go of a piece of information that was extremely important, but he didn't care. He's letting the past go. He doesn't want to know anything about it anymore. Just before everything collapsed, he saw himself, not his **other** self, but himself. He was wearing the uniform of a high-school in Little Tokyo. He was walking with several people… a lot of people was more like it. It looked like there was a ceremony going on. For some reason, he caught his breath. Another shift, he was standing in the middle of the street. There were people walking away from him. Then one more shift, with him simply leaning back on a wall looking up at the sky.

He reached out to the illusion. The entire scene turned into a ball that fit in his left palm. He hesitated slightly, before crushing the 'illusion' in his hand. Then he started to fall. This world was gone now.

He hoped he'd never have to see it again.

Cravat snapped back to reality just a few moments after he'd blacked out. He found himself staring at his left hand. It seemed to be clenched tight around something. It looked like… a fragment. That was all he could call it. As quick as he saw it, it dissolved silently, without a trace. He was still staring at him hand when Habit went up to him, startling him slightly.

"You alright big guy?"

He turned around and looked at Habit intently. She seemed so different now. Why was she like that in the first place, he wondered. He pinched her cheeks, which she groaned against.

"Ahl tehk that aff a yeff…"

_**Author's Notes: OH LOOKIE, IT'S ONLY ONE MONTH LATE NOW UNLIKE TWO MONTHS LATE LIKE BEFORE! YAY! Happy Holidays guys o3o**_


	13. Chapter 13 Beaches in Heat

**Chapter 13 – Beaches in Heat**

"I knew this day would come sooner or later," Cravat grumbled as he slowly walked towards Lash-Out. He had an assortment of items in his arms, from snorkelling gear, to a parasol, to sun tan lotion, to 'that' kind of lotion, the works, for a day at the damned beach. Not that he wouldn't mind… er…. 'appreciating' their semi-nude bodies, normally he'd jump at the idea. But some days you just felt too lazy for any sort of activity. If it were up to him he would opt to stay at home all day and play the shit out of PSO2, but servers are down for the day. Ah well, it is what it is, he thought. Panty and Stocking were close behind. They were already wearing their swimsuits before they'd even left the church. Stocking's was a modest, blue-striped two-piece, though her top still strained against her assets, while Panty sported a pink bikini. She had a great figure, Cravat had to admit, but then thinking of other guys just ogling her, which they most certainly will, didn't sit well with him. He was a little protective of them, he guessed. Brief came hobbling behind the two sisters with more of their stuff, like a beach ball, the towels, and the food Garter prepared.

It had been a while since any Ghost had come up. So, to get rid of the boredom, they decided to go to the beach. Why? Cravat guessed God decided to throw in an obligatory beach episode into his life. He was pretty sure it was going to go as well as any other T.V. show in existence. Once they decided to go do something fun in the midst of all the blandness and boringness that would be the moment something of exciting would come up, probably a Ghost, the Daemon sisters, or both. Speaking of the Daemon sisters, Cravat hadn't heard from Kneesocks in a while. Well, not that he was hoping on it, but then it wouldn't have been too much to ask if she just sent him something like a death threat every now and then right?

Not that he cared, absolutely not. Why would he?

He mounted Lash-Out and revved the motor as he waited for the others to get onto See-Through. It took a while considering they still had to stuff Garterbelt's stuff in the trunk too. However the hell his entire hotdog stand fit in there he didn't know. After Brief helped Garter shove the last chair into See-Through's probable interdimensional trunk, the two of them got onto the back seat. The Anarchy sisters looked bored to death from waiting.

"Took you long enough," Panty sneered. Garterbelt fixed his overwhelming afro as he replied.

"If you whores tried to help it would've gone faster."

"Oh shut up afro-priest," she paused when she glanced at Brief in the rear-view mirror, who was also in his swim-trunks already, by order of Garterbelt. "Have you been you been working out Geek-boy? Last time I saw you naked in that Lingerie Ghost episode you had a lot more flab on ya."

Brief fidgeted slightly. He was putting on a little more muscle. He's been busy for the past two and a half months. "Maybe a little," he responded meekly. Panty blinked.

"Well whatever, let's go, Stocking."

Stocking revved See-Through after she turned the ignition. "And by the way afro-priest, we don't get paid to move your shit around. If it's not a Ghost, you can count us out."

"Bitches you be living under my roof, and you better be thankful that the lord almighty doesn't cast you two out for being such whores!"

Brief sat awkwardly at the back beside Garter, silently watching the other three start to argue their heads off. He gave a small wave to Cravat, signalling for help. The latter just grimaced. No can do, geek-man. As he turned his attention towards the exit ramp, Habit got on Lash-Out and held tight around his waist. He passed her a helmet and she put it on cautiously. He reached for his own and put it on. He's been feeling a little apprehensive lately. Sure, his skull wouldn't crack from a simple collision like that. He was an Angel after all. But then again, it never hurt to be a little bit safer than usual. He could feel Habit jittering behind him. He turned around and made both their helmets come in contact with each other so that she would hear him clearly. Something with vibration and sound and shit, because Science.

"I'll take it easy this time," he said playfully. She groaned. It was the first time since they'd arrived in Daten City that she got on Lash-Out with him again. Instead of fond memories, all she could think of were the possible mangled positions she would end up in. Cravat revved Lash-Out, giving Habit a scare.

"By all that is holy, Cravat I swear if you get me killed my one greatest regret will be not being able to haunt your sorry ass for as long as your afterlife."

Cravat just stifled a laugh. As soon as See-Through burst out the underground garage Lash-Out followed suit. The humdrum of the cars he passed was drowned out by Habit's screams of terror as she clung to him for dear life. She pressed her entire body hard up against his. This wasn't so bad, Cravat thought with an inward smirk. They had to get through the highway and pass by a roundabout section before they arrived at the beach. Habit was about to hate him even more soon. They passed by quite a few vehicles – and by passed by it meant hopped over/ blew aside/ stormed through – as they sped through the highway.

Aside from a few slipups, one of which needed Cravat to jump off of Lash-Out to catch Habit because she let go as he launched their vehicle skywards over a sixteen-wheeler, after which he nimbly landed back onto his bike, Habit in tow, and another in which he had to intentionally throw her over a truck transporting a bunch of cars, etcetera, they managed to get to the beach in one piece. Habit weakly stepped off of Lash-Out only to crumple down to the ground with her legs shaking from all that's happened. Cravat sighed as he patted her on the head. She groaned dejectedly as he picked her up and slung her over his shoulder.

"I-I'm nota piesh of baggash you knew…" she said shakily, her legs weakly kicking at him. He gave her a light tap on her behind, before raising her in front of him like a child.

"Be a good girl now," Cravat told her.

"Hmph…"

Garter recommended to them not to setup their spot too far from where he was currently standing, which was like a mid-point from the road and to the sea. As they tried to find a good enough spot Cravat noticed Garterbelt opening a luggage bag. In a few moments, the square baggage he was carrying folded out into a stall that said 'Charch Seaside'. Well shit, now that's something he hasn't seen before. As he turned around, the clouds covering the sun suddenly split apart like the red sea. It bombarded him with a healthy amount of UV radiation.

"Damn it's hot," he complained. It was late in May, so Summer was just around the corner. All this heat was making him feel a little light headed as he set Habit down on the beach towel under their staked parasol. "Feeling better?"

She didn't even respond. Well someone's being a little too unhappy about things, he thought. Meanwhile Brief ran along and gathered the items needed for Garter's stand, namely a few luggage bags carrying a fridge, a grill, and other such equipment.

"Where did you get all of those magic bags Garter?" Brief asked as he opened one, which turned into a giant, elongated table. Garter smirked as he got the frozen frankfurters out of the freezer.

"Nothing a Heaven's Express Black Card can't buy, my dear Brief."

The way Garter said the last part of that sentence made Brief just a wee bit uncomfortable. He shrugged it off and took his leave to find something else to do.

As everything else in the world sped by around her, Habit was busy pouting under the shade of the parasol. Stupid Cravat, stupid need for speed, stupid danger, stupid stuff, she mused. She continued to make a list of what she thought was stupid. She was pretty annoyed that Cravat didn't keep his promise of taking it easy.

Habit cringed. Taking it easy? Even back then 'he' promised that. Yeah, load of shit that did. No matter which one it was, they had trouble keeping their end of the bargain. He probably got a kick out of watching her scream and panic like that. It was… eerily similar to before, but much different. She much preferred the way it was now. She curled up defensively, a subconscious action where she covered herself with her hands as if someone was staring at her and she didn't want to be seen. She didn't like how things were back then. This was better… much better, she thought. She never thought of what happened all that time ago, up until Cravat mentioned meeting old-man Epik. Her anxiety was just amplified because of what happened in the laundry room back on the 17th of March. She couldn't forget that day. She wouldn't be able to, his eyes at that time, it was a lot more pure and joking, but it still reminded her of...

Cravat suddenly appeared out of the corner of her eye, walking up with something in his hands. He sat down beside her on their beach towel and offered her a pack of cookies. She hesitated a bit.

"It's my peace offering," Cravat said, a smile urging across his face. When she didn't take it immediately, he put on an apologetic expression. She hasn't been herself lately. Maybe I shouldn't have played around like that back on the highway, he thought. "I'm sorry."

God that's not fair, Habit thought. With that face she couldn't stay mad. With that face… same features, same expressions, but different emotions and thoughts behind it. He's always been kind and sincere. That was his stark and defining difference. She took the packet and stuck her tongue out at him.

"I'm still mad," she said. "But I guess this is a start."

That made Cravat smile a little. At least it was getting him somewhere. He realized they were still in their casual attire, and he offered to accompany Habit so they could both get changed. Cravat lifted a backpack over his shoulder and Habit brought her things which were inside a large paper shopping bag. They let Chuck guard their belongings and walked towards a row of changing stations to one side of the beach.

"I'll be back in a sec," Habit said after closing the door to her station. As he heard the click of a lock Cravat went to the station right beside Habit's. He changed into his white swim-trunks before stuffing the rest of his clothes into his backpack. As he got outside, his attention was immediately diverted by a cat a ways away from the changing stations. It was white as snow, with a coat as fluffy as a bag of cotton balls. It had sky-blue eyes that seemed to stare at him intensely. On its neck was a peculiar collar, in which where the tag would be there was a padlock and key. Must've run away from a weird owner, Cravat thought. He went over to see if it was friendly, and to his pleasant surprise it brushed up against him, purring to its heart's content. He picked it up, and it mewed at him adorably. You little bastard, you're not allowed to be this adorable, he thought humorously. It proceeded to paw him on the nose.

"If you wouldn't get crushed to death I would hug you so badly right now."

"Mew?"

OhmagawdIwannatakeyouhome- No, I must stay strong. Mental barriers activate! "I think I'll call you Feles," Cravat told the little fluff-ball of adorableness as he set it down onto the ground. It was the Latin word for 'cat'. By all means it wasn't that creative, but hey. I shouldn't get too attached to it, he thought as he gently stroked it behind the ear. He heard a commotion behind him, and someone shouting. That was definitely Habit's voice. He said his goodbyes to his little feline friend, who looked at him expectantly.

"Sorry, but I've got to leave," he called out. Now he was talking to cats. Brilliant. For some reason, he thought he saw the cat nod in response. "… Naaaah."

He went back to the front of the changing stations. He saw three guys surrounding Habit a ways away in a secluded spot. She had changed into a reasonable black two-piece, moderately showing her curves. Still, it was enough to attract three goons from out of nowhere to suddenly start hitting on her. They probably herded her to that secluded spot no less. This was also cliché, Cravat thought.

"C'mon baby, don'chu wanna have some fun with us?" One of them, tall and moderately built sporting an obnoxious-looking speedo. All things considered, he had his looks going for him, but his attitude could've used an overhaul. By the looks of it he was the 'pack leader' as the other two just stood there like idiots reinforcing his statement. Habit didn't move from her spot.

"I-I already said no, so please leave me alone," she responded. One of them, a shorter, medium-built guy with an earring on his right ear, tried to grab her arm.

"No, d-don't!" Habit squealed and she forcefully yanked it away, throwing the former off-balance. He bumped into Cravat, who brushed him off and sent him tripping into some sand. Cravat smiled at the trio.

"Everything alright here gentlemen?" he asked smugly.

"This isn't any of your business asshole, unless," the other guy, taller, more heavily built and completely bald, looked at Habit. "You know this pretty little thing here. You her boyfriend or something?"

"No, but I do know her," Cravat said calmly. "Habit, are you done teasing them already? I want to go swimming," he said. The other guy with the earring got up and grabbed Cravat by his neck.

"I think you should just run along and let us have some 'fun' with your friend over here."

"C-Cravat!" Habit called from her spot. As she tried to run to him she was blocked by the two remaining men.

"Oh no, we're not done with you yet," the pretty-boy-asshole smiled.

Cravat's face contorted into panic. "H-hey I get it man, just don't hurt-" Smack. Crack. That felt like the nose bridge splintering. Right into a tree. "Yeah I'm just fucking with you."

Earring-guy's face was implanted half-way into the bark of a Palm-tree. He slowly crumpled, with blood from his nose smearing the wood in a straight line downwards.

"Motherfucker!" Bald-and-brawny pointed a knife he got from his trunks at Habit's neck. She squirmed at the cold metal against her skin. Baldy's hand started to inch its way to Habit's chest. "You make one move and she gets it."

Cravat stood there and blinked. "Wow that's… that's pretty pathetic. With your muscles bulging like that you still need to point a knife at a girl half your size just to get laid?" He stifled a laugh. "Well, you probably don't get laid much. Maybe you shouldn't overcompensate so much."

Habit squirmed more. "P-please, don't do this-"

"Shut up, bitch," pretty-boy snarled. He turned to Cravat. "You're not in any place to diss us, you little shit," His hand roamed downwards from Habit's stomach. Baldy's hand was already tracing lines along her bust. "Now get lost, unless you want to enjoy the show."

Cravat leaned up against the tree he smashed earring-guy's face in. He smiled at them. "Oh I'll enjoy it alright."

Pretty-boy looked unnerved by the comment. This guy was messed up. "Lady, you have one sick bastard for a friend over there. What, you keep cock-blocking him or something? I'm surprised he hasn't jumped you yet."

For some reason the words stung Cravat like electricity. He didn't know why, but it just did. Something inside of him was reacting, something deep and buried. Before he could think about it anymore Habit was already starting to get her switches flipped, and not in the way you'd think that term was used for. A homicidal smile was creeping onto her face.

Pretty boy turned around and saw Habit with that crazed expression on her face. It was a look of pure unbridled spite as her eyes narrowed towards her target. He was locked in place, trapped in her little web. "What the hell are you-"

Habit's hands worked like magic, disarming baldy's knife-hand in one quick motion. First thing you should probably do before you rape someone is to restrain their hands and feet. Of course, it was Habit so it wouldn't have mattered. She kicked pretty-boy hard in the stomach, making him reel backwards a few feet. Habit grabbed baldy's arm and judo-flipped him like he weighed as much as a pillow. As baldy's body made contact with the sand three well-placed jabs cracked both sides of his ribs and crushed his solar plexus. In an instant, he was out cold. As pretty-boy regained his balance, Habit was already dashing towards him. She speared him to the ground, kicking at his solar plexus as he fell back. As the now unfortunate victim tried to figure out just what the hell had just happened to him, he saw Habit looming over him like the grim reaper. She smashed her foot right into his Adam's apple. He coughed up some blood.

"W-what the fuck are you?" he stammered. Habit positioned a kick to his man-parts, and her foot collided with its target with deadly force. The guy's eyes rolled back into his head before he heard her voice seemingly echoing in the distance as his consciousness faded.

"I'm a nun."

Cravat had to cringe a little as he saw what had happened to the three asshats. There's Habit for you, acting like a victim before managing to rip your shit up. Habit's expression instantly reverted back to her normal bubbly disposition. They headed back to their little patch on the beach without any further fuss. He thought he spied Feles trying to follow them but whenever he turned around, the cat was nowhere in sight.

When they got back to their little parasol Chuck was nowhere to be found. Probably went to Garter, they thought. Panty and Stocking had set up their own station, on top of See-Through's hood. They were busy with their own activities. Well, busy as in getting ogled at by the rest of the beach's population. Panty was constantly being handed drinks while Stocking, holding onto her favourite stuffed cat, was given an endless supply of deserts. The crowd treated them like goddesses. Not far off, Cravat thought. They were Angels after all. Habit joined the other two on a whim, and suddenly she was being ogled at as well. Whistles of approval resounded all around them. Cravat sighed. There wasn't anything he could do about them being the center of attention. They practically relished it. Nothing to do but spur them on. He gave the three of them an approving wolf whistle, and the three of them beamed at him in appreciation.

Ah, youth. Or what could be considered as youth. How old were each of them anyway? Oh well, he dismissed the thought. Out of nowhere, a pair of arms grabbed him by the neck. Before he knew it he was smooshed up against two familiarly ample mounds of flesh, in laymen's terms, Stocking's breasts. Oh what raced through his mind at that moment. Would he need to apply suntan-oil on this holy maiden?

"Otakun, oil me up would you?" She purred. Habit took the moment to grab hold of Cravat's arm.

"That's not fair, me too Ravvy," Habit pleaded, no, _demanded_. It was a good day to rein-act embarrassing anime/manga clichés. Hoho, but no, they won't be embarrassing him this time around. He had other things in mind. Let's break the mold, shall we? He thought mischievously.

Panty called out to Brief, who was shuffling from See-Through's trunk and back to Garter's food-stall to drop off some supplies. "Geek-boy, on me, now," she demanded, adding a similar tone of seduction to it. Poor Brief was victimized like a deer caught in the headlights.

"B-B-But we're supposed to be helping Garter out with the church's food-stall…!" he stammered. Panty wouldn't let up though. She got on all fours before grabbing him by the arm, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Oh c'mon Geek-Boy, p-l-e-a-s-e~?" she whispered oh so sensually into his ear. That was that. Brief dropped everything he was carrying and put on a brave face. He looked at Cravat, and they gave each other nods of determination. Game faces, on! They each got a bottle from the bag the girls conveniently placed on the hood, and went to town. How the masses looked at them with fire in their eyes.

This next section is brought to you by, Misinterpretation. It's more inappropriate if you only hear what's going on.

"Here I go then Habit~"

"Nnnn… That feels nice… W-wait Cravat, not there…"

"Not where? Hm… are you sensitive here maybe…?"

"Fuwaa… geez control your… eek…!"

"You like that don't you? How about you Stocking?"

"Chyeah, like you're going to… Gyaa…! You ass, w-wait, stop… Oh god… N-ngyaa…"

"I still know your weak spots, you little masochist. How's it going Brief?"

"F-fine, but Panty keeps fidgeting…"

"R-right there…! Oooh… yeah right there… Teehee, enjoying yourself, Geek-boy?"

"Tch, you aren't faking those are you?"

"Of course not… Nnngg… oh yeah…"

"Go for the ears Brief, that'll set her off."

"Cravat, you fucker! Why'd you tell him?! Geek-boy don't you dare…"

"Like this…?"

"Hyaaaa….! N-noo, wait, you ass-hat…. If you just continue… after you did that… Oh god… Fucking hell, G-geek-boy… stop…! Ahnn…"

"Oh, what's this? But I'm just putting some _oil_ on you, Panty, into_ every_ inch of you. How'm I doing Cravat?"

"I approve very much."

"I think we have to get their front too, Cravat."

"I like the way you think good sir. Alright… time to finish this."

"W-wait, what… Ah…! Gimme a break Ravvy, I'm going to…! N-nooo… ! "

"Fucking shit Otakun, I'm gonna g-get you… for… for… Ah… Ahhh… !"

"H-here's the finishing touches Panty…"

"Tch, y-you're in way over head if you think… this… this will… w-will… ah… n-no, not my ear, waah…! Hyaa… !"

The three girls tensed up before they slumped back and rested themselves on See-Through's windshield, slightly elated from their little session. Their bodies were glistening with sweat and sun-tan oil, and as they staggered to regain their breaths, the two triumphant maestros of oil-application stood smugly to one side. Panty didn't think Brief could be that assertive. She gave him props for that. Not enough to get into her standards though.

"Well that was refreshing," Panty said stretching her arms. Brief fidgeted a little, not daring to look at her in the eye. Well that was a quick mood switch. "Not bad, Geek-boy, but," she paused, before she got a pair of her underwear from a not-so-far bag. In a flash she had Backlace pointed right at Brief. "You try that again without my consent and I'll blow your brains out."

Brief stood his ground. "But you can't hurt me with that. You tried once before, remember?"

His statement caught Habit and Stocking off-guard. Did he have a death wish? What's more, Panty already knew that, didn't she? So why was she still threatening him like that? Brief took a hold of Backlace's barrel and aimed it at his head. Panty seemed ticked-off. What the fuck is up with you today? Feeling a little lucky punk? Man-handling me, now you're acting all cool and shit? I'll fucking kill you! She clenched her teeth and squeezed the trigger. There was no loud bang or explosion. The only thing she heard was something like a pellet harmlessly bouncing off her target.

"… Oh right. Can't hurt humans. Fuckin' A," she said disappointedly.

"Don't tell me you actually forgot about that. What are you an idiot?" Stocking scoffed. Panty scrunched her face in her sister's direction.

"Don't start with me you cow."

"Bitch, what you call me?!"

"Hey guys," Cravat interrupted. "I think that's a tidal wave."

They all went silent upon seeing one of the oddest things you could see at a beach: a rather large car was surfing on top of a tidal wave headed towards them. Out of nowhere Cravat heard a sinister organ play, like there was someone playing background music in his head. He'd heard this tune before. He had a good feeling he knew who were riding on top of that tidal wave. The wave crashed and sent the crowd around them hurdling back up the sandy shore along with Panty, Stocking, and Habit, while Cravat and Brief managed to latch on to See-Through to prevent themselves from being swept away. His musings were answered with a refreshingly familiar face as two figures stepped off of the familiar USUV. He recognized that pony-tail, that graceful gait, those curves… oh, she was in a swim-suit too, an inviting black two-piece. Her sister on the other hand seemed a lot bolder, as her curves and ample chest, which he realized could rival Stocking's, was supported by a black, sling bikini.

"Daemon sisters," Cravat sighed. "I fucking knew it," he said with an unexplainable grin on his face. He reached for his neck… but then realized his weapons were in his backpack. Shit, not good.

"Dear sister I advised you not to let G-Sting learn Surf. It causes too much of a mess," Kneesocks' polite and familiar voice called out. She noticed Cravat's presence and went up to him. When she noticed that he was readying his fighting stance, she put a hand in front of him, signalling him to stop. "As much as this meeting warms me, I'd rather not engage in hostilities right now Cravat. My dear sister and I are on vacation."

Cravat was a little sceptical. "Really now?" he asked, scanning her from head to toe. No he wasn't trying to see if she was lying or not. She just really looked good in her outfit, but he made it seem like he was figuring her out. Brief absent-mindedly stood there beside Cravat. Scanty suddenly walked up to him and eyed him like a child in a candy store.

"Why hello~ there. I don't think we've met," She said happily.

Cravat, Brief, and Kneesocks had a deadpan expression on their faces. Brief scratched the back of his head.

"Uh, you seriously don't remember?" he asked. Scanty looked puzzled.

"Why whatever do you mean?" she insisted ever so innocently. Brief sighed. She seemed to have a really bad memory. That or he just didn't make much of an impression on her when they tried to kill him all that time ago. Then it hit him, the tidal wave had managed to slick Brief's hair back. The guy looked like a million-bucks, his determined teal eyes and near perfect bone structure drove some of the women passing by to swoon.

"I'm the one who you tried to decapitate, you know, on the roof of Daten High? Mass-production Ghosts? Am I ringing any bells here?" the boy asked, exasperated. Then he saw his reflection on See-Through's hood and realized his situation. He ruffled his hair back to its normal, messy state. The girls passing by were obviously against it and stormed off in a huff.

Scanty blinked for a few moments before she reached a state of realization. "Oh… oh that was _you_! Oh dear me, terribly sorry for that incident, it was nothing personal, just demon things to take care of," she stretched her hand out in anticipation. "I'm sorry if we'd gotten off on the wrong foot. My name is Scanty."

Brief looked at her hand, unsure of what to do. He looked at Cravat, who was just as apprehensive as he was. Cravat looked at Kneesocks, who didn't flinch nor falter. If there was one thing he knew about Kneesocks, it was that she didn't joke around, whether it was small formalities like this, acting like a member of the student council in the past, or when she was trying to kill him a few times over. He sighed and turned to Brief.

"Take it, I don't think they mean harm," there was a quick pause and a sideways glance. "For now anyway."

Brief remained silent for a moment. He took Scanty's comment about him with a grain of salt and stretched out his own hand. "Alright then. I'm Briefers Rock." Brief shook Scanty's hand at once. He wasn't expecting it to be smooth and soft, like her flushed red skin wasn't just for show. He had a little trouble letting go. He had to admit, she was mesmerizing. He now also understood why Cravat had a sort of obsession with Kneesocks over there. She was radiant too, in her own right.

Before any more words could be exchanged Panty and Stocking, covered in some seaweed, came waltzing up to the Daemon sisters. They were not happy. Not one bit. The Daemon sisters' expressions changed. Disgust filled their every emotion at that moment. The Anarchy sisters shook the seaweed off and took a stance against the two Demon girls.

"I thought I smelled something rotten. I thought a dead animal had started to rot, but it's just those moron Angels again," Scanty said, her expression barely showing any emotion but a burning fire shone through her eyes. Kneesocks put on a face of mock surprise.

"Are you saying our lungs have been insufflating the same air as them? How abhorrent."

Panty was easily angered by their arrogance. "What the fuck are you bitches doing here? Finally decided to show your sorry little faces after all this fucking time?" she barked. Kneesocks shifted her stance slightly, and her gaze made it look like she was looking down on the Angel sisters she considered as mere insects.

"We should be asking you the same question," she started. There was a lot of bite to her words, nothing like how she was talking to Cravat a while ago. "The point of a private beach is to keep dirty little cretins like you out."

Stocking furrowed her brows. "You own the beach?"

Panty would have none of it though. "Fuck that, you can't just claim a beach you whorenocerous."

Scanty smirked ever so slightly. "Your offensive name-calling is charming at best," Fastener staked a sign-board into the sand that said: KEEP OUT, OCCUPIED BY DEMON SISTERS. How subtle, Cravat thought. Scanty began to continue. "We'd just purchased this area not too long ago for the sole purpose of our vacation," Fastener scampered on top of the sign and rolled out a legal looking document. Scanty flashed her fangs in seeming triumph. "Do you understand? The law is on our side and that doesn't leave you two toilet Angels with many options now does it? You may leave now," Scanty suddenly grabbed hold of Brief by the arm, wrapping her own around his and clasping his hand.

Kneesocks proceeded to snatch Cravat and wrap her arms around his waist, leering over his shoulder. Cravat was immune to that kind of treatment by now, but alas, Brief's mental faculties slowly degraded until he was reduced to a blubbering fool, the poor boy. Not that he was complaining though.

"M-M-Ms. Scanty?!"

The elder Daemon sister smirked as she proceeded to hold Brief against her body. "You have our permission leave the boys though, and that other silly human girl. Now go on."

Panty burst forward and punched - yes _punched_ - Brief out of Scanty's clutches. "Bitch if you want to make us leave then you're gonna have to use force," she shouted in Scanty's ear. Scanty ignored her and went to see if Brief was alright. He seemed fine, but Scanty just couldn't fathom how time and time again these so called 'Angels' kept disregarding human law and safety for their own personal benefit.

"What is the matter with you, you insufferable wench?!" She helped Brief up, who was slightly woozy from the Angel's hit, but he recovered quickly. After you've been abused by an Angel so much you could barely notice it any more. All around them the crowd suddenly started to get into it and urged the cat fight on. Assholes, the lot of you, thought Cravat. Scanty turned to the raging blonde. "Honestly it's like talking to a brick wall. Being unable to understand such basic rules like this, it was foolish of me to think that we could be civilized about this."

Stocking went next to her sister and looked like she was ready to make the first move any second now. Kneesocks let go of Cravat and went to her sister's side. Cravat signalled Brief to get out of the line of fire before he was injured any more than he was. The latter simply nodded before stealing a quick glance at Scanty. Cravat and Brief joined Habit, who at the moment had found a bag of popcorn and watched curiously at the transpiring events. "Really now?" he asked Habit, who just shrugged innocently.

The two pairs of sisters had a stare down, before Panty spoke up again, regaining some of her composure. "If you grovel at our feet right now, we'll consider forgetting this little shit-fest ever happened and we can all move on with our fucking lives."

Scanty stood her ground. "I think it would be better if you monkeys were taught a lesson in humility. Obviously, we will not be engaging you in armed combat for we came here to relax in the first place," a glint appeared at the corner of her eye. They all had puzzled expressions on their faces when she uttered her next statement.

"But we Demons have just the activity to settle a score such as this."

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

Volleyball. That was the answer to all beach related problems. It was so obvious he didn't even realize it himself. Absolutely brilliant. Actually no, what the hell was up with this? Last time he checked he wasn't sucked into Dead or Alive: Xtreme Bitch Volleyball.

That was a pun.

Both the Anarchy and Daemon sisters headed to the volleyball court in one part of the beach. Cravat noticed the crowd seemed to adore Scanty and Kneesocks more. Kind of like what happened way back when at school. They wouldn't take very kindly to that, he reckoned. As he followed near the end of the crowd, Brief and Habit were walking alongside him. Despite the circumstances, he remembered how Brief stood up to Panty for the first time not too long ago. He gave the red-head a pat on the back.

"What is it?" he asked, regaining his balance. Cravat's 'pats' were like getting hit by a skillet.

"I can't believe you finally manned up to Panty. I still have to back down even if she doesn't threaten me," Cravat said light-heartedly. "Did my advice over these past few months finally get to you?"

Brief laughed a little. Over the calm of no-Ghosts and no-Daemon sisters they'd gotten to be close friends. Cravat always told Brief that if he ever wanted to get a chance with Panty he'd have to step up his game a little. It took all of his being, but he managed what he had to do.

"I just got a little fed up with her attitude. Can't believe I didn't have the stones to do this sooner," Brief paused. "You think she hates me now though? Could've been why she knocked me so hard…"

"Psh," Cravat scoffed, before his voice became a whisper. "The more she's frustrated with you, the more she's _sexually _frustrated with you. Well, Stocking was like that in my case anyway. Angel women think weird I guess," He glanced at Habit slightly. "Of course there _are_ exceptions to the rule. Then again, she's a normal human."

Upon hearing that Habit punched Cravat in the arm.

"Stupid, unbelievable, asshole, stupid," she kept repeating. She pouted, and, upon calming down after Cravat stroked her hair, she turned to Brief. "I hope your gaming with Cravat hasn't been in the way of practicing what I taught you," she said. Over the calm period Brief also didn't only hang out with Cravat. He'd gotten lessons from Habit on how to fight Ghosts and Demons and whatnot. He's had this crazy notion if he manages to save Panty from a dire situation she'd fall for him head over heels. Cravat always told him that it might've been futile, because if Panty couldn't handle something, they'd all might as well be dead then and there. But Brief wouldn't let up. In the two and a half months of nothingness, Habit taught Brief in some basic martial-arts, weapon-use, and the 'yes's and 'no's when fighting Ghosts. He managed to get the hang of it, one way or the other. He couldn't single-handedly take down a Ghost, but he was probably good enough that by now he wouldn't be a mere nuisance.

Probably.

As the three of them managed to get to the spot on the beach with the volley-ball court, Brief appointed himself as the referee, seeing as no one was volunteering. Even if the crowd wanted to see the match, no one dared to be the score keeper. If either of the pair sees a wrongly accused judgement they would be turned into ash in less than a second. Habit went ahead to find a spot to watch from the crowd. Cravat took a quick glance at the volleyball court. Seems normal enough, he thought. Then again, if he'd learned anything from both the Anarchy and the Daemon sisters, they always had a way to un-normalize something, even a simple sport like volleyball. As he was about to follow Habit deeper into the crowd, someone grabbed his hand and dragged him off to one side. It all happened so quickly that he didn't even manage to resist. Whoever had him was pretty strong, holding his hand like a vice. The hands were soft though, and he already had a feeling who it was. He was thrown gently (how that made sense he didn't really know either) into a trunk of a palm tree away from the peering eyes of the noisy crowd before them.

"Hi there Kneesocks."

The younger Daemon sister fidgeted slightly. For all that bravado she put up during their confrontation with Anarchy sisters she was flustered quite easily. "You know I felt your face heat up when you were hugging me back there."

She put her hands in front of her. "You know I blush easily," She said with a straight-yet-reddening face. It was one of the most adorable things he'd seen. Not as adorable as that cat he'd found earlier, but hey, it ranked pretty damn close. If he knew she wasn't going to stab him with her scythes the moment he tried, he would've wanted to pinch those cheeks. She still lunged at him with both scythes though. It materialized so quickly that he didn't realize she'd setup her stance already by putting her hands out. She cleaved the Earth in two as her scythes made contact with the ground. He'd barely side-stepped that blow. "I apologize for not sending you a message as of late. There was a lot of paperwork that needed to be done during the months it took to finally purchase this beach."

"You couldn't have just, I dunno, make your dad snap his fingers and get you the beach?" he joked. He reached into his trunks' pockets and his Ghost Kiras materialized. He had retrieved them before they started to move just for an occasion like this. Kneesocks went on the attack again, and he blocked both of her scythes, using his retracted whips like daggers to clash with the handles, extending his arms far enough to prevent from puncturing an artery.

"Don't be foolish, my sister and I wouldn't bother father with something so trivial," she said, like it was an everyday occurrence. He grit his teeth as he tensed himself. It took a lot more effort than normal to be able to push her back into a stand-still, and even then he could feel his feet scraping against the sand as he was ever so slightly being pushed back. He forced her off of him and lashed out, sending two tethers of light streaking towards her. The both of them stood their ground with Cravat unleashing an onslaught of whip strikes and Kneesocks deflecting each and every one of them.

"Wow, really not giving me any room here are you?" he asked rhetorically. If this fight were drawn out any more people might start to take notice to it instead of the half-naked women stretching provocatively for a volleyball game. He retracted his whips quickly and stabbed forward. Kneesocks prepared to block, but the blow never came. It was too late when she realized his whips had gone into a rift in reality and had teleported themselves behind her. The light-trails wrapped around her scythe-handles. This was the first time he'd used that teleporting trick since their scuffle on the roof of Daten High. Cravat pulled hard, sending Kneesocks crashing into him. They hit the sand hard enough to send a wall of sand cascading all around them, though the sound it made was something akin to a pitiful 'Foomf!'. White sand beaches. Pretty nice for soft landings.

"I think I win this round," Cravat whispered. One arm held Kneesocks gently towards him while the other had a Ghost Kira pointed at her neck. Her scythes lay planted into the ground a ways away from them. "That's three for me and four for you," he smirked. Kneesocks fidgeted under his grip.

"I suppose it is. I did not expect you to use 'that' again," she said, referring to the teleporting whip manoeuvre.

"I've been practicing," he replied. He hadn't thought of using that technique since he almost killed Kneesocks with it before. It was like tapping into a power that wasn't his own, something that was tugging at him from deep inside. Even in those few seconds that he had managed to pull it off, he felt a darkness encroaching on him, like it was saying 'I'm taking over soon, have fun while it lasts'. Shaking the thoughts off, Cravat felt Kneesocks' face heat up while her head lay on his chest. He decided to stop teasing her and released her from his grip, to which she sprang back almost instantly and started to dust off. She kept a straight face all throughout despite her again steadily reddening complexion, which just made it more humorous for him. He collected her scythes, which reverted their form, and handed them back. She tied these to her ponytail so that they would stay hidden again.

"Oh that's why there was something weird attached to your scrunchy."

"Indeed."

They heard a whistle and the crowd from not too far off started roaring like mad men. Brief had signalled a five-minute prep time before the match officially started. The two combatants turned to each other.

"Time for your volleyball game," he said plainly.

"Indeed…" she repeated. She got up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek before turning around and heading for the court. She stopped mid-way, turning slightly so that his eyes caught hers. "It was nice trying to kill you again. It was very… nostalgic, for lack of a better term," she finished, and she continued to the court.

This was the most complicated relationship that I've been in, Cravat thought to himself. A lot more complicated than Stocking that's for sure. Seriously. He was surprised at himself that he played it cool until the end. Hell to the yeah-uh, he thought. But now he was just getting more and more confused. Did Kneesocks… _like_ him in _that_ way? Or was it like, an infatuation with something she was eventually going to kill? Wow relationships really get you thinking, he mused. He knew his expression had gone from 'totally poker-face' to 'finicky-idiot' by now. "Damn, damn, damn, damn," he kept repeating. "Wow this is complicated. Urgh."

As he got back to the crowd Habit noticed that he was a little bit off. He just replied the weather was getting to him and proceeded to watch the volleyball match. It started off innocently enough, a few insults here, a few taunts there, some ass shaking from the Anarchy sisters to rile the crowd a bit (Hey, what could you do about them). Eventually the first set ended with the Anarchy sisters winning. As soon as the second set started, that's where it started to get… rambunctious. As fast as they were winning the Panty and Stocking started losing horribly, the ball just inching out of their reach, slamming them in the gut like it wanted to, and generally being un-hittable as soon as it crossed over to the Angel's side.

"What the fuck's going on?!" Panty shouted, getting up from being smashed in the face. "You bitches can't go from sucking one minute then suddenly you're all Olympic-level shit the next!"

Scanty and Kneesocks didn't look fazed by the accusations at all. "You two primal-hillhacks simply cannot keep up with our rapidly improving skill-level," Scanty taunted, smirking with pride. Kneesocks swatted another spike-serve.

"You mens-smeared skanks asked for this…!" Panty muttered under her breath. She'd already noticed something wrong with the ball that they had been using for the past few sets. She decided to take matters into her own hands. The moment it was in range, Panty materialized Backlace and shot at the ball. Wherever she was hiding it, it wasn't in her ponytail like Kneesocks, Cravat thought. He dropped the subject entirely, not wanting any revelations to dawn on him. The ball had deformed itself to evade the gunshots, and as it hit the ground it turned back into Fastener, who awkwardly made an exit from the court.

Panty butted heads with Scanty through the volleyball net.

"Are you lacking in any sort of intelligence, you mindless dollymock?! Don't try and bend the rules just because you're losing!"

"This coming from a yeasty hag-troll who had to use her retarded pet rat to start winning?!"

Their insults went back and forth while Stocking found something of use in Chuck as the latter walked innocently by the court. She quickly grabbed him and fashioned him to fit the occasion. "Ball's up, bitches!" She shouted as she spike served their little pet. Kneesocks jumped into the air and slashed at Chuck once. The poor dog was however sliced not only in two, but twelve pieces from that single swipe. Scanty and Panty started to question each other's heritages loudly and insultingly as Kneesocks finally snapped and decided it was _game _time. Her serve was charged with such demonic power that it flew right between the Anarchy sisters in the blink of an eye.

"We'd been going easy on your pitiful selves because we knew you were hampered down by your horribly proportioned physique and your miniscule IQs, but I think it's time to play for real," the younger Daemon sister taunted. She met Cravat's gaze, whose expression just spoke of an exasperated 'seriously?' while mouthing 'what about your _rules_?'. Her face flushed but she held her chin high.

"Of course," Scanty continued. "This is no longer just a means to get you off our property. The losers would have to be punished even further," she paused for effect, looking at the crowd around them. "The failing team will have to strip in front of the crowd."

Instantly the crowd around them cheered and hollered their approval. Cravat found himself indecisive about the decision. Sure if the Daemon sisters won Panty and Stocking would strip, but that was something they were probably ready to do anyway… probably. If the Anarchy sisters win and the Daemon sister had to strip though… knowing Kneesocks and her personality… stripping front of a crowd would be mortifying for her. She would be all shy, and blushing, and fidgety…

And in front of everyone. No way in hell he was going to allow that. But then what could he do about it? This was their fight. Should he just butt in and carry the two sisters off in hiding? He wouldn't be able to do that without a distraction. Why would he even try in the first place? Why was he going to go out of his way for that? Damn all these feelings swirling inside his brain. Stupid synapses and neuron discharges that made his brain send signals that made him feel what he was feeling. Stupid complicated feelings.

While he'd been having a moral argument with himself he'd already missed half of what was going on. Back and forth the demonic and angelic powers surged throughout the area, all concentrated on that volleyball. They shouted names of their 'attacks', invoking sigils, signs, and whatever the hell else to augment their serves, spikes, and returns. Brief frantically tried to keep up with the speed of the match, while Habit watched like a cat following a laser pointer. Back and forth Cravat could feel the power escalating, almost exploding, until the scores were tied and finally, when he thought that that the Anarchy sisters were about to lose it all, Stocking managed to save the ball and sent it flying high above their side of the court. Panty jumped and cocked her arm back, smirking as a wave of joy plastered itself on her face.

"Repent, bitches!"

Her spike resonated throughout the area and created a heart-shaped crater in the sand as it landed hard between the gawking Daemon sisters. They stood there for a moment before it registered in their heads.

"This means…" Scanty muttered.

"… we lost…" Kneesocks finished. The crowd started to roar.

"You heard your fans, you skanks," Panty taunted. The crowd was in a frenzy, chanting for the Daemon sisters to strip. Cravat couldn't bring himself to move. He was too fixated on Kneesocks. Her lithe fingers slowly snaked around the straps of the bottom of her two-piece, inching them slowly down her legs, ever so slowly, so teasingly, bringing out a small bottle…

Small bottle? Cravat snapped out of it and realized Scanty had gotten one as well while under the guise of untying her sling. The Daemon sisters threw the bottles into the air. The bottles flew over the ocean, and Scanty shot at it with her revolvers, spilling the bottle's contents into the sea. A moment of silence followed, before ghosts of gigantic sea creatures began to flood the beach before anyone had any idea what was going on. Instant Ghost Fluid. Nasty stuff. A giant Ghost-topus had wrapped its tentacles around the general female populace. A Shark Ghost began terrorizing the crowd, which had already dispersed in the chaos. The Anarchy sisters cursed and shouted at the Daemon sisters as they managed to escape and headed towards G-Sting that was about halfway in the water. Cravat, not knowing where his emotions had suddenly surged from, lashed and shouted out at Kneesocks.

"You broke your _rules_!" he exclaimed, pointing accusingly. Kneesocks was stunned for a moment, before being pushed inside the car by her sister. Cravat turned his attention to the chaos behind him. A few of their luggage bags were sprawled open. Habit had already started chopping some sushi up with her hatchets. Brief had acted quickly and calmly and assisted her with throwing knives and handing her more weapons. He ducked, rolled, kicked, and slashed at Ghosts that he could, stumbling here and there but getting back on his feet. Guess it was a good day for some field-training. The Anarchy sisters were unfortunately temporarily out of commission. Stocking was being molested by a giant octopus, moaning about how good it felt every now and then. Despite knowing her tastes, it was still kind of unnerving, and downright wrong. Panty had been stripped of her clothing by Evil-Ghost sea anemones and starfishes, while the Ghost of a small sea-snail had latched onto her ear. Yep, that would bring her down in an instant. Cravat readied his Ghost Kiras and rendezvoused with Habit and Brief. They would need to break through quite a few sea creatures to get the Anarchy sisters.

"Alright you guys, we're on our own here," he said, stabbing at a Ghost Dolphin's blow-hole. He thought he heard an explosion in the distance, but it was probably nothing. "Think you guys can keep up?"

Habit smiled at Cravat before grabbing another hatchet by her teeth. Three in each hand and one in her mouth. Kinky. Brief grabbed hold of a broadsword (he insisted on getting something simpler than throwing axes) and stood by their side.

"Aye aye, Cap'n," he said, slightly pushing his hair out of the way, once again revealing his teal-colored eyes. Cravat didn't get to see Brief's eyes much, but when he did, he could see a lot of fire in them, a certain spark of determination, like he was ready to take on anything no matter what. This time was no different. He always felt oddly jealous of this, though he didn't know exactly why. Cravat straightened up and shifted his stance slightly. Fighting on the beach in his swim trunks with two of the best people he knew. He started regretting not wanting to go to the beach at first.

"All right, let's do this shit."

**-0-0-0-0-0-**

Not to bore anyone with the drawn-out fight with a hundred sea creatures or more, suffice to say it took a while. Despite that they'd managed to get the Anarchy sisters some clothes while they lay knocked out from either pain, pleasure (for Stocking anyway), or frustration. Brief helped fix the Church's seaside stand with Garter, who had disappeared during the course of the volleyball tournament right up to the moment a Whale-Ghost smashed his recliner to smithereens (along with some money Cravat was pretty sure didn't come from selling some drinks and big black franfurters) while Habit picked up the salvageable weapons she had thrown around. Cravat went around the shoreline to look for any other stray Ghosts that may have gotten away from them. Twelve heavens all in all for their troubles. Not great, but not bad, I guess, Cravat thought. He looked back and saw that he was getting a little further away from the others but you couldn't be too safe with clearing out the Ghosts.

He ended up behind a rocky outcrop that extended into a small alcove that was well-hidden from the rest of the beach. He could hear noises coming from inside the alcove and he readied his Ghost Kiras just in case. He entered the clearing, slowly pacing around each rock formation and checking the stalagmites or stalactites for signs of Ghosts, until he reached what seemed like the end of the path. There he found two shapes, one curled up, and the other seemingly sitting on a rock. He rushed forward giving them no quarter. The one on the rock was closer, so he lashed his whips out and grabbed hold of the Ghost. The Ghost struggled, and Cravat pulled with all his might. Normally the pressure would rip right through Ghosts, but instead he managed to pull his target right towards him, and it crashed into him. He fell over backwards, and the figure landed on top of him bound by his whips and unable to move.

"Kneesocks?"

"I would think this means we're even now," she said plainly. "Four to four."

Cravat got up to his feet and helped Kneesocks up as well, untangling her from his whips. "That was more of an accident though," he said sheepishly.

"I had let my guard down, which was foolish of me. Had it been one of those boorish sisters that had come here I would not be standing here right now," she said, a hint of bitterness edging her words. Cravat clapped her on the back.

"They're out cold right now because of that little show you put on earlier, so you can relax a bit," he reassured. He decided to play with her a little. "You know, despite you and your sister losing and not being true to your _rules_ but hey what can you do," he looked around and didn't see Scanty anywhere. The smell of burnt leather also seemed to linger in the air. He looked at Kneesocks and scanned her from head to toe. He didn't see it at first because of the dim lighting of the cave, but he noticed some black scorch marks all over. "What the heck happened to you? And where's Scanty?"

Kneesocks lead him to the rock she had been sitting on. The other curled up mass that was beside her was a knocked-out Scanty, who had even more scorch marks all over her. Kneesocks sighed. "My sister had unfortunately pressed G-Sting's self-destruct button. Fastener is currently acquiring another means of transport while I tend to my sister's ineptitude."

He looked at her skeptically. "Self-destruct button," he said, like it was the most unbelievable thing in the world. Kneesocks merely nodded. "Who the hell would put a self-destruct button in their own car?"

Kneesocks scrunched her face up. She had a hard time trying to make logic of that decision as well. He wanted to pinch her cheeks again. In fact he did.

"Phleash shtop, thesh sishuashun iff cfliché I know…"

Well if she was that depressed to not slice him in half when he invaded her personal space she must've felt pretty down. Scanty stirred slightly.

"Sulfuric… dollymock… Angel… bitches…" she said groggily. She was drooling, so she was probably in no danger. An explosion would at most knock a Demon or an Angel out. Kneesocks sat down beside her sister and started to fix Scanty's hair up a bit.

"She had not taken the defeat very well. She kept going on and on about how she would devise a plot and pay them back tenfold and whatnot…"

Cravat already knew that Kneesocks cared for her sister very much. Despite all the fighting and the combat with the Anarchy sisters, plotting to take over all of humanity, and any other Demon-esque related things that they did such as buying out a beach just to spite their adversaries, the way the sisters treated each other was like they were the only ones they had left in the world. Okay so sometimes it bordered on incestuous but it wasn't his place to comment on it. For some reason he felt like their father didn't really pay much attention to them because of his work. Probably common in a lot of the more fortunate families.

It dawned on him though. If the Daemon sisters were Demons… then that would make the mayor of Daten City…

"Cravat?" Kneesocks' voice knocked his thoughts off track. It was more of her tone that smacked the train aside though. She sounded serious. "Were you truly that upset?"

He blinked. "What?"

Kneesocks got up and stood in front of him, meeting his gaze. "Before we'd escaped on the beach, you shouted at me."

It took a while before it registered in his head again. "Oh, when you guys escaped when you lost."

"Yes."

"Well not really, though you _did_ break your _rules_," he said the last part jokingly. But Kneesocks regarded him for a moment, before holding the straps of her top. Cravat stood puzzled. "What are you doing?"

"I will keep true to our word, but I will not allow my sister to be shamed as well," she said with conviction. "The agreement shall be fulfilled and you will be the sole witness."

Cravat stood scratching the top of his head while regarding Kneesocks, whose hands had stopped from taking her top off. She was looking at him as if testing to see if he would actually allow it. "You really don't have to, I mean what's done is done."

"No I insist. But only for you."

Her tone wavered with the last few words. There was a secret message in there, I just know it, Cravat thought. "I'm sure the world won't end if I let this one sli- And there goes your top."

The piece of fabric fluttered to the ground as Kneesocks covered her bust with one hand. She looked serious, albeit slightly flustered. Her face was getting redder again. Cravat could feel his face starting to heat up too. He awkwardly covered his face with one hand and turned around. "Yeah I'm just going to look that way until you put your clothes back on."

He's seen women naked before. Stocking barged in and out of her room naked these days without a care in the world in the mornings whenever she took a bath after the whole temper-tantrum-sexy-times incident. Panty walked around the house naked for the hell of it. Habit he's seen in a swimsuit at the least. So why was he feeling awkward with Kneesocks? Just another naked body… Heck, her being in a swimsuit barely left anything to the imagination. But he really couldn't bring himself to do it. He heard another rumple of clothing. She was definitely not dressing up.

"I am being true to my word," she said. She was getting closer. He heard her stop behind him. "I do not mind if it's you. Turn around," she coaxed. She started to shiver. The cave was damp and being naked wasn't helping. "I'm cold."

"Maybe you should put some clothes on then," he called out. Kneesocks got fed up with his indecisiveness. She walked right up behind him, held him by the shoulders, and spun him in a complete 180. And there goes the full-frontal. He could've stood there and have an internal monologue on how she looked heaven-sent (or was it hell-sent in this case?) and many other flattering adjectives that he could pull out from his brain-thesaurus but his mind voted against it. Just get it over with already, she's going to get sick if she stays that way.

"I see you now, happy? You should really get dressed."

"I'm cold," Kneesocks repeated, now looking up at Cravat with pleading puppy-dog eyes.

Foul play, my dear Kneesocks, foul play. "Okay, no, that's not fair, you don't do that. You're not allowed to do that."

"It is within my right as a human being to want the warmth of another person in order to achieve self-preservation and prevent death by hypothermia and it is also well within my _rules_ to act differently according to certain situations to acquire what I desire," she explained plainly. Cravat was looking at her, his expression told her he was really struggling to get the message. She felt her face heat up again and decided to say what she felt as simply as she could. With a sigh, the words escaped. "I just want you to hold me."

Cravat instantly went through an entire repertoire of internal monologues and questions that had formulated into his head at that very moment, which includes but is not limited to: So is this going to make us a thing or not? Wow I can't believe I just thought that. This is some forbidden love type of shit right here. It's really happening? Wowzers. I'm thinking too much. Dayumn.

"Exactly what does that mean… exactly?"

"Well," she paused. "Do not get the wrong idea. I will not say you are my entire world, you are not the light of my life, your smile is not what I live for, or any other similar dramatic clichés that many would believe one should feel about a speculative significant other," she started, looking him straight in the eye. "But I find your company refreshing," she finished. Their eye contact was so intense that she felt his gaze just piercing right through her. Then after a few more moments the silence finally broke.

"Okay," he shrugged.

"_Okay?_" she asked.

"Okay."

"That's all you have to say?"

Cravat moved forward and held her close. This was different from all the other times before, where she held him in a choke-hold, or when he held her and threatened to puncture an artery, or when she pinned him down with a scythe a few inches to his neck, or even the first time he'd managed to pin her down with a whip strike threatening to run her heart through. Ah, nostalgia. This time he held her close sincerely, gently, caringly. He didn't hold on tight, but he held on enough. Only now did he manage to realize how small she really was. Kneesocks' arms were slack at her sides, he knew she was on her tiptoes so that her head rested on top of his shoulder. He could even feel her heartbeat like this, since he was pretty much almost naked himself.

"I don't think there's anything else to say. At least, for now."

He loosened his embrace on her slightly so that he could rest his forehead on hers. His face was a little askew to hers due to the horn though, but he didn't mind. He smiled at her. She smiled back. She looked lovely smiling like that, a far cry from her normal almost emotionless expressions. They shared a quick kiss on the lips. Nothing fancy, nothing carnal, just something sincere for the both of them. When they parted, she let out a small sneeze. The sheer intensity of his 'I-told-you-so' expression made her want to stab him with her scythes.

"Now will you get dressed?" he asked as he let her go.

"That would be wise," she agreed.

Once Kneesocks had gotten dressed she pointed at Cravat. "I will allow our duel to be shortened to a race to five. The next time we duel, it will be to decide who will be the dominant one in this relationship."

"Oh come on really?" Cravat asked, finding the notion a little ridiculous. She held him with a serious gaze though, so he knew she was serious. No way he was losing next time. "Fine."

Kneesocks sat back next to Scanty. "I think you'd best go back now. You have quite a way to go if you truly want to have a chance at dominating me."

"You make it sound so sexual," he laughed. Kneesocks' face reddened once again. Before she could retort he was out of the alcove and heading back towards Habit and the others. The sun was slowly inching it's way west as the afternoon went on, and he regretted thinking sitting in front of console would have been better.

By all accounts, it was a pretty good day at the beach.

**-0-0-0-0-0-**

_**Author's Comments: **__**SOOOOO, I'm not dead just yet :D Anyway, made this chapter longer to sort of kind of make up for going AWOL. I've got the rest of the story planned out so long ago but I just can't get my hands to type. Anyway, I'm really sorry for disappearing, but when I saw people still following the story after so long I got motivated to continue again, so thanks for that push. Until next time guys :D. Also, Kneesocks' short speech near the end I based off of a comic from xkcd. Credit goes to xkcd guy XD**_


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